China vs United States: Primary energy from nuclear
China
1,470 terawatt-hours
in 2025
United States
2,503 terawatt-hours
in 2025
China rank
2nd
United States rank
1st
Primary energy from nuclear over time
- China
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 2,503 terawatt-hours against 1,470 terawatt-hours in China, a difference of 1,033 terawatt-hours.
That makes United States's figure about 1.7 times China's.
Across all 61 years both countries report, United States has been ahead every year.
China ranks 2nd and United States ranks 1st of 213 countries.
United States has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0 terawatt-hours | 27.62 terawatt-hours | 27.62 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 1970s | 0 terawatt-hours | 464.91 terawatt-hours | 464.91 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 1980s | 0 terawatt-hours | 1,192 terawatt-hours | 1,192 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 1990s | 26.36 terawatt-hours | 2,053 terawatt-hours | 2,027 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 2000s | 139.89 terawatt-hours | 2,499 terawatt-hours | 2,360 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 2010s | 539.8 terawatt-hours | 2,544 terawatt-hours | 2,005 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 2020s | 1,294 terawatt-hours | 2,489 terawatt-hours | 1,195 terawatt-hours | United States |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher primary energy from nuclear, China or United States?
- United States, at 2,503 terawatt-hours against 1,470 terawatt-hours in China as of 2025.
- What is the difference in primary energy from nuclear between China and United States?
- 1,033 terawatt-hours, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and United States?
- 61 years are reported by both, from 1965 to 2025.
- How do China and United States rank globally for primary energy from nuclear?
- China ranks 2nd and United States ranks 1st of 213 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Primary energy from nuclear. 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.