China vs South Africa: Consumption energy intensity

China
1.76
in 2020
South Africa
1.9
in 2020
China rank
4th
South Africa rank
2nd

Consumption energy intensity over time

  • China
  • South Africa
1234199520072020

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 1.9 against 1.76 in China, a difference of 0.14.

That makes South Africa's figure about 1.1 times China's.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 26 shared years of data; in 1995 it was China ahead.

China ranks 4th and South Africa ranks 2nd of 43 countries.

Across the 4 decades both report, China averaged higher in 3 and South Africa in 1.

Head to head by decade

Decade China South Africa Difference Ahead
1990s 3.34 2.39 0.9474 China
2000s 2.42 2.03 0.3913 China
2010s 1.86 1.7 0.1595 China
2020s 1.76 1.9 0.1429 South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher consumption energy intensity, China or South Africa?
South Africa, at 1.9 against 1.76 in China as of 2020.
What is the difference in consumption energy intensity between China and South Africa?
0.14, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for China and South Africa?
26 years are reported by both, from 1995 to 2020.
How do China and South Africa rank globally for consumption energy intensity?
China ranks 4th and South Africa ranks 2nd of 43 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Our World in Data, published as Consumption energy intensity. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

China vs South Africa: Consumption energy intensity. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://energy.statizoid.com/compare/consumption-energy-intensity/china/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://energy.statizoid.com/compare/consumption-energy-intensity/china/south-africa/">China vs South Africa: Consumption energy intensity</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Consumption energy intensity
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
43 places, 1,113 data points, 1995–2020
Last refreshed