Ireland vs South Africa: Annual change in primary energy from renewables
Ireland
1.75 terawatt-hours
in 2025
South Africa
2.17 terawatt-hours
in 2025
Ireland rank
36th
South Africa rank
34th
Annual change in primary energy from renewables over time
- Ireland
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports 2.17 terawatt-hours against 1.75 terawatt-hours in Ireland, a difference of 0.42 terawatt-hours.
That makes South Africa's figure about 1.2 times Ireland's.
The two have swapped places 28 times across 60 shared years of data; in 1966 it was South Africa ahead.
Ireland ranks 36th and South Africa ranks 34th of 80 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Ireland averaged higher in 2 and South Africa in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Ireland | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | -0.0901 terawatt-hours | -0.004 terawatt-hours | 0.0861 terawatt-hours | South Africa |
| 1970s | 0.0244 terawatt-hours | 0.1123 terawatt-hours | 0.0879 terawatt-hours | South Africa |
| 1980s | -0.0128 terawatt-hours | 0.1615 terawatt-hours | 0.1743 terawatt-hours | South Africa |
| 1990s | 0.0611 terawatt-hours | -0.1436 terawatt-hours | 0.2047 terawatt-hours | Ireland |
| 2000s | 0.427 terawatt-hours | 0.1847 terawatt-hours | 0.2423 terawatt-hours | Ireland |
| 2010s | 1.03 terawatt-hours | 1.04 terawatt-hours | 0.0139 terawatt-hours | South Africa |
| 2020s | 1.05 terawatt-hours | 3.34 terawatt-hours | 2.29 terawatt-hours | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual change in primary energy from renewables, Ireland or South Africa?
- South Africa, at 2.17 terawatt-hours against 1.75 terawatt-hours in Ireland as of 2025.
- What is the difference in annual change in primary energy from renewables between Ireland and South Africa?
- 0.42 terawatt-hours, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Ireland and South Africa?
- 60 years are reported by both, from 1966 to 2025.
- How do Ireland and South Africa rank globally for annual change in primary energy from renewables?
- Ireland ranks 36th and South Africa ranks 34th of 80 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual change in primary energy from renewables. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Change in total energy supply relative to the previous year, measured in terawatt-hours.