China vs India: Electricity generation from fossil fuels
China
6,175 terawatt-hours
in 2025
India
1,527 terawatt-hours
in 2025
China rank
1st
India rank
3rd
Electricity generation from fossil fuels over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 6,175 terawatt-hours against 1,527 terawatt-hours in India, a difference of 4,648 terawatt-hours.
That makes China's figure about 4.0 times India's.
Across all 41 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 209 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 | 394.59 terawatt-hours | 166.04 terawatt-hours | 228.55 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1990s | 764.82 terawatt-hours | 325.39 terawatt-hours | 439.43 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2000s | 1,988 terawatt-hours | 581.52 terawatt-hours | 1,406 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2010s | 4,318 terawatt-hours | 1,043 terawatt-hours | 3,275 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2020s | 5,868 terawatt-hours | 1,423 terawatt-hours | 4,444 terawatt-hours | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher electricity generation from fossil fuels, China or India?
- China, at 6,175 terawatt-hours against 1,527 terawatt-hours in India as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electricity generation from fossil fuels between China and India?
- 4,648 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 fossil fuels?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 3rd of 209 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 fossil fuels. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Electricity generation from coal, oil, and gas, measured in terawatt-hours.