China vs Japan: Electricity generation from solar
China
1,175 terawatt-hours
in 2025
Japan
101.06 terawatt-hours
in 2025
China rank
1st
Japan rank
4th
Electricity generation from solar over time
- China
- Japan
How they compare
China currently reports 1,175 terawatt-hours against 101.06 terawatt-hours in Japan, a difference of 1,074 terawatt-hours.
That makes China's figure about 11.6 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 55 shared years of data; in 1971 it was Japan ahead.
China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 4th of 214 countries.
Across the 6 decades both report, China averaged higher in 2 and Japan in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0 terawatt-hours | 0 terawatt-hours | 0 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1980s | 0 terawatt-hours | 0 terawatt-hours | 0 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1990s | 0.0074 terawatt-hours | 0.0616 terawatt-hours | 0.0542 terawatt-hours | Japan |
| 2000s | 0.095 terawatt-hours | 1.53 terawatt-hours | 1.44 terawatt-hours | Japan |
| 2010s | 66.35 terawatt-hours | 31.38 terawatt-hours | 34.97 terawatt-hours | China |
| 2020s | 602.25 terawatt-hours | 90.88 terawatt-hours | 511.37 terawatt-hours | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher electricity generation from solar, China or Japan?
- China, at 1,175 terawatt-hours against 101.06 terawatt-hours in Japan as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electricity generation from solar between China and Japan?
- 1,074 terawatt-hours, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and Japan?
- 55 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2025.
- How do China and Japan rank globally for electricity generation from solar?
- China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 4th of 214 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Ember (2026); Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Pinto et al. (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Electricity generation from solar. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Measured in terawatt-hours.