United States vs USSR: Primary energy from renewables

United States
1,883 terawatt-hours
in 2025
USSR
202.99 terawatt-hours
in 1984
United States rank
2nd
USSR rank
3rd

Primary energy from renewables over time

  • United States
  • USSR
05001.0k1.5k2.0k196519952025

How they compare

United States currently reports 1,883 terawatt-hours against 202.99 terawatt-hours in USSR, a difference of 1,680 terawatt-hours.

That makes United States's figure about 9.3 times USSR's.

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

United States ranks 2nd and USSR ranks 3rd of 77 countries.

United States has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade United States USSR Difference Ahead
1960s 269.05 terawatt-hours 96.21 terawatt-hours 172.84 terawatt-hours United States
1970s 359.32 terawatt-hours 145 terawatt-hours 214.33 terawatt-hours United States
1980s 437.62 terawatt-hours 185.74 terawatt-hours 251.87 terawatt-hours United States

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher primary energy from renewables, United States or USSR?
United States, at 1,883 terawatt-hours against 202.99 terawatt-hours in USSR as of 2025.
What is the difference in primary energy from renewables between United States and USSR?
1,680 terawatt-hours, with United States ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for United States and USSR?
20 years are reported by both, from 1965 to 1984.
How do United States and USSR rank globally for primary energy from renewables?
United States ranks 2nd and USSR ranks 3rd of 77 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 renewables. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Primary energy from renewables
Unit
terawatt-hours
Source
Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
82 places, 4,686 data points, 1965–2025
Last refreshed

Measured in terawatt-hours of total energy supply.