Australia vs South Africa: Annual percentage change in primary energy use
Australia
-0.4%
in 2025
South Africa
-0.3%
in 2025
Australia rank
165th
South Africa rank
163rd
Annual percentage change in primary energy use over time
- Australia
- South Africa
How they compare
South Africa currently reports -0.3% against -0.4% in Australia, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 27 times across 60 shared years of data; in 1966 it was Australia ahead.
Australia ranks 165th and South Africa ranks 163rd of 217 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 5 and South Africa in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.3% | 3.3% | 2.0% | Australia |
| 1970s | 4.9% | 4.1% | 0.8% | Australia |
| 1980s | 2.1% | 5.3% | 3.1% | South Africa |
| 1990s | 2.4% | 1.8% | 0.6% | Australia |
| 2000s | 1.6% | 1.7% | 0.1% | South Africa |
| 2010s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.1% | Australia |
| 2020s | -0.6% | -0.9% | 0.3% | Australia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual percentage change in primary energy use, Australia or South Africa?
- South Africa, at -0.3% against -0.4% in Australia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in annual percentage change in primary energy use between Australia and South Africa?
- 0.1%, with South Africa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and South Africa?
- 60 years are reported by both, from 1966 to 2025.
- How do Australia and South Africa rank globally for annual percentage change in primary energy use?
- Australia ranks 165th and South Africa ranks 163rd of 217 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Annual percentage change in primary energy use. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Percentage change in total energy supply relative to the previous year.