China vs USSR: Primary direct energy consumption by source

China
8,964 terawatt-hours
in 2024
USSR
4,936 terawatt-hours
in 1984
China rank
2nd
USSR rank
2nd

Primary direct energy consumption by source over time

  • China
  • USSR
02.0k4.0k6.0k8.0k10.0k196519942024

How they compare

China currently reports 8,964 terawatt-hours against 4,936 terawatt-hours in USSR, a difference of 4,028 terawatt-hours.

That makes China's figure about 1.8 times USSR's.

Across all 20 years both countries report, USSR has been ahead every year.

China ranks 2nd and USSR ranks 2nd of 79 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Primary direct energy consumption by source
Unit
terawatt-hours
Source
Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
82 places, 4,605 data points, 1965–2024
Last refreshed

Energy consumption is measured in terawatt-hours, in terms of direct primary energy. This means that fossil fuels include the energy lost due to inefficiencies in energy production.