China vs Japan: Changes in energy use vs. changes in GDP

China
40,469 terawatt-hours
in 2020
Japan
6,738 terawatt-hours
in 2019
China rank
1st
Japan rank
4th

Changes in energy use vs. changes in GDP over time

  • China
  • Japan
10.0k20.0k30.0k40.0k199520072020

How they compare

China currently reports 40,469 terawatt-hours against 6,738 terawatt-hours in Japan, a difference of 33,731 terawatt-hours.

That makes China's figure about 6.0 times Japan's.

Across all 25 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.

China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 4th of 43 countries.

China has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade China Japan Difference Ahead
1990s 11,375 terawatt-hours 6,651 terawatt-hours 4,723 terawatt-hours China
2000s 16,569 terawatt-hours 6,569 terawatt-hours 9,999 terawatt-hours China
2010s 30,869 terawatt-hours 6,159 terawatt-hours 24,710 terawatt-hours China

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher changes in energy use vs. changes in gdp, China or Japan?
China, at 40,469 terawatt-hours against 6,738 terawatt-hours in Japan as of 2020.
What is the difference in changes in energy use vs. changes in gdp between China and Japan?
33,731 terawatt-hours, with China ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for China and Japan?
25 years are reported by both, from 1995 to 2019.
How do China and Japan rank globally for changes in energy use vs. changes in gdp?
China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 4th of 43 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Kulionis (2021) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Changes in energy use vs. changes in GDP. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Changes in energy use vs. changes in GDP
Unit
terawatt-hours
Source
Kulionis (2021) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
43 places, 1,113 data points, 1995–2020
Last refreshed

Consumption-based (trade-adjusted) primary energy use measures domestic energy use minus energy used to produce exported goods, plus energy used to produce imported goods. Gross domestic product (GDP) is adjusted for inflation and differences in living costs between countries.