Germany vs South Africa: Annual percentage change in primary energy use
Germany
-0.2%
in 2025
South Africa
-0.3%
in 2025
Germany rank
161st
South Africa rank
163rd
Annual percentage change in primary energy use over time
- Germany
- South Africa
How they compare
Germany currently reports -0.2% against -0.3% in South Africa, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 29 times across 60 shared years of data; in 1966 it was South Africa ahead.
Germany ranks 161st and South Africa ranks 163rd of 217 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Germany averaged higher in 1 and South Africa in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Germany | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.7% | 3.3% | 0.4% | Germany |
| 1970s | 2.6% | 4.1% | 1.5% | South Africa |
| 1980s | -0.2% | 5.3% | 5.5% | South Africa |
| 1990s | -0.7% | 1.8% | 2.6% | South Africa |
| 2000s | -0.8% | 1.7% | 2.5% | South Africa |
| 2010s | -0.4% | 0.7% | 1.1% | South Africa |
| 2020s | -3.5% | -0.9% | 2.6% | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher annual percentage change in primary energy use, Germany or South Africa?
- Germany, at -0.2% against -0.3% in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in annual percentage change in primary energy use between Germany and South Africa?
- 0.1%, with Germany ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and South Africa?
- 60 years are reported by both, from 1966 to 2025.
- How do Germany and South Africa rank globally for annual percentage change in primary energy use?
- Germany ranks 161st 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.