China vs India: Electricity demand
China
10,564 terawatt-hours
in 2025
India
2,083 terawatt-hours
in 2025
China rank
1st
India rank
3rd
Electricity demand over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 10,564 terawatt-hours against 2,083 terawatt-hours in India, a difference of 8,481 terawatt-hours.
That makes China's figure about 5.1 times India's.
Across all 26 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 214 countries.
China has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2,438 terawatt-hours | 708.35 terawatt-hours | 1,729 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2010s | 5,823 terawatt-hours | 1,281 terawatt-hours | 4,542 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2020s | 9,198 terawatt-hours | 1,846 terawatt-hours | 7,352 terawatt-hours | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher electricity demand, China or India?
- China, at 10,564 terawatt-hours against 2,083 terawatt-hours in India as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electricity demand between China and India?
- 8,481 terawatt-hours, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 26 years are reported by both, from 2000 to 2025.
- How do China and India rank globally for electricity demand?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 214 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Ember (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Electricity demand. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Measured in terawatt-hours.