China vs United States: Primary energy from renewables
China
4,141 terawatt-hours
in 2025
United States
1,883 terawatt-hours
in 2025
China rank
1st
United States rank
2nd
Primary energy from renewables over time
- China
- United States
How they compare
China currently reports 4,141 terawatt-hours against 1,883 terawatt-hours in United States, a difference of 2,258 terawatt-hours.
That makes China's figure about 2.2 times United States's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 61 shared years of data; in 1965 it was United States ahead.
China ranks 1st and United States ranks 2nd of 77 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, China averaged higher in 2 and United States in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 22.02 terawatt-hours | 269.05 terawatt-hours | 247.03 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 1970s | 39.03 terawatt-hours | 359.32 terawatt-hours | 320.29 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 1980s | 88.59 terawatt-hours | 457.23 terawatt-hours | 368.64 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 1990s | 172.05 terawatt-hours | 637.81 terawatt-hours | 465.76 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 2000s | 435.99 terawatt-hours | 723.61 terawatt-hours | 287.61 terawatt-hours | United States |
| 2010s | 1,436 terawatt-hours | 1,240 terawatt-hours | 195.93 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2020s | 3,113 terawatt-hours | 1,691 terawatt-hours | 1,422 terawatt-hours | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher primary energy from renewables, China or United States?
- China, at 4,141 terawatt-hours against 1,883 terawatt-hours in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in primary energy from renewables between China and United States?
- 2,258 terawatt-hours, with China 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 renewables?
- China ranks 1st and United States ranks 2nd of 77 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017) β with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Primary energy from renewables. 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.