China vs India: Coal production
China
26,296 terawatt-hours
in 2025
India
4,992 terawatt-hours
in 2025
China rank
1st
India rank
2nd
Coal production over time
- China
- India
How they compare
China currently reports 26,296 terawatt-hours against 4,992 terawatt-hours in India, a difference of 21,304 terawatt-hours.
That makes China's figure about 5.3 times India's.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was India ahead.
China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 219 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, China averaged higher in 10 and India in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | India | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 25.76 terawatt-hours | 58.06 terawatt-hours | 32.3 terawatt-hours | India |
| 1910s | 55.68 terawatt-hours | 108.64 terawatt-hours | 52.96 terawatt-hours | India |
| 1920s | 95.75 terawatt-hours | 133.85 terawatt-hours | 38.1 terawatt-hours | India |
| 1930s | 155.65 terawatt-hours | 151.45 terawatt-hours | 4.2 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1940s | 211.12 terawatt-hours | 186.49 terawatt-hours | 24.62 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1950s | 739.97 terawatt-hours | 251.73 terawatt-hours | 488.25 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1960s | 1,708 terawatt-hours | 412.28 terawatt-hours | 1,295 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1970s | 2,738 terawatt-hours | 563.19 terawatt-hours | 2,175 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1980s | 4,778 terawatt-hours | 855.9 terawatt-hours | 3,922 terawatt-hours | China |
| 1990s | 7,278 terawatt-hours | 1,515 terawatt-hours | 5,763 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2000s | 13,198 terawatt-hours | 2,197 terawatt-hours | 11,001 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2010s | 21,080 terawatt-hours | 3,188 terawatt-hours | 17,892 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2020s | 24,608 terawatt-hours | 4,342 terawatt-hours | 20,267 terawatt-hours | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher coal production, China or India?
- China, at 26,296 terawatt-hours against 4,992 terawatt-hours in India as of 2025.
- What is the difference in coal production between China and India?
- 21,304 terawatt-hours, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and India?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do China and India rank globally for coal production?
- China ranks 1st and India ranks 2nd of 219 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Coal production. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Measured in terawatt-hours.