Russia vs USSR: Primary energy use
Russia
8,664 terawatt-hours
in 2025
USSR
17,692 terawatt-hours
in 1991
Russia rank
4th
USSR rank
2nd
Primary energy use over time
- Russia
- USSR
How they compare
USSR currently reports 17,692 terawatt-hours against 8,664 terawatt-hours in Russia, a difference of 9,028 terawatt-hours.
That makes USSR's figure about 2.0 times Russia's.
Across all 7 years both countries report, USSR has been ahead every year.
Russia ranks 4th and USSR ranks 2nd of 218 countries.
USSR has averaged higher in every one of the 2 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Russia | USSR | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 9,666 terawatt-hours | 17,576 terawatt-hours | 7,909 terawatt-hours | USSR |
| 1990s | 9,703 terawatt-hours | 17,833 terawatt-hours | 8,130 terawatt-hours | USSR |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher primary energy use, Russia or USSR?
- USSR, at 17,692 terawatt-hours against 8,664 terawatt-hours in Russia as of 1991.
- What is the difference in primary energy use between Russia and USSR?
- 9,028 terawatt-hours, with USSR ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Russia and USSR?
- 7 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 1991.
- How do Russia and USSR rank globally for primary energy use?
- Russia ranks 4th and USSR ranks 2nd of 218 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Primary energy use. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Measured in terawatt-hours of total energy supply.