China vs India: Electricity generation from coal
China
5,752 terawatt-hours
in 2025
India
1,474 terawatt-hours
in 2025
China rank
1st
India rank
2nd
Electricity generation from coal over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 5,752 terawatt-hours against 1,474 terawatt-hours in India, a difference of 4,278 terawatt-hours.
That makes China's figure about 3.9 times India's.
Across all 41 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 211 countries.
China has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 335.77 terawatt-hours | 149.68 terawatt-hours | 186.09 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1990s | 708.41 terawatt-hours | 278.88 terawatt-hours | 429.53 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2000s | 1,927 terawatt-hours | 483.11 terawatt-hours | 1,444 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2010s | 4,120 terawatt-hours | 952.23 terawatt-hours | 3,168 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2020s | 5,500 terawatt-hours | 1,364 terawatt-hours | 4,137 terawatt-hours | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher electricity generation from coal, China or India?
- China, at 5,752 terawatt-hours against 1,474 terawatt-hours in India as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electricity generation from coal between China and India?
- 4,278 terawatt-hours, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 41 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 2025.
- How do China and India rank globally for electricity generation from coal?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 211 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Electricity generation from coal. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Measured in terawatt-hours.