Electricity production from coal sources in China
China: Electricity production from coal sources was 61.3% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Electricity production from coal sources in China, 1990–2023
Source: IEA Energy Statistics Data Browser, International Energy Agency (IEA). Measured in % of total.
Analysis
The most recent figure for electricity production from coal sources in China is 61.3%, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 18.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, electricity production from coal sources in China peaked at 81.0% in 2007 and was at its lowest, 61.3%, in 2023.
That places China 9th out of 209 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Electricity production from coal sources in China, year by year
| Year | % of total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 71.0% | — |
| 1991 | 73.5% | +3.5% |
| 1992 | 75.0% | +2.1% |
| 1993 | 73.5% | -2.0% |
| 1994 | 74.8% | +1.7% |
| 1995 | 73.7% | -1.4% |
| 1996 | 76.2% | +3.3% |
| 1997 | 76.4% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 75.6% | -0.9% |
| 1999 | 77.7% | +2.7% |
| 2000 | 78.2% | +0.7% |
| 2001 | 76.3% | -2.5% |
| 2002 | 77.5% | +1.7% |
| 2003 | 79.6% | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 78.2% | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 79.2% | +1.3% |
| 2006 | 80.3% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 81.0% | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 78.8% | -2.7% |
| 2009 | 78.4% | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 77.0% | -1.8% |
| 2011 | 78.7% | +2.2% |
| 2012 | 75.5% | -4.0% |
| 2013 | 75.1% | -0.5% |
| 2014 | 73.0% | -2.8% |
| 2015 | 70.2% | -3.9% |
| 2016 | 68.4% | -2.5% |
| 2017 | 68.0% | -0.6% |
| 2018 | 66.5% | -2.2% |
| 2019 | 65.0% | -2.3% |
| 2020 | 63.5% | -2.3% |
| 2021 | 63.0% | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 61.7% | -2.0% |
| 2023 | 61.3% | -0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 74.7% | 71.0% | 77.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 78.7% | 76.3% | 81.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 71.7% | 65.0% | 78.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 62.4% | 61.3% | 63.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near China
More energy & mining data for China
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fuel imports 20.4% (2024)
- Ores and metals imports 15.1% (2024)
- Ores and metals exports 1.5% (2024)
- Gas production 2,641 terawatt-hours (2025)
- Fossil fuel production per person, by fuel 1,865 kilowatt-hours per person (2025)
- Fossil fuel production by fuel 2,641 terawatt-hours (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is electricity production from coal sources in China?
- Electricity production from coal sources in China was 61.3% in 2023, according to IEA Energy Statistics Data Browser, International Energy Agency (IEA).
- What is the highest electricity production from coal sources recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 81.0% in 2007.
- What is the lowest electricity production from coal sources recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 61.3% in 2023.
- How does China rank for electricity production from coal sources?
- China ranks 9th out of 209 countries with data for 2023.
- Is electricity production from coal sources rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from IEA Energy Statistics Data Browser, International Energy Agency (IEA), published as part of Electricity production from coal sources (% of total). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The share of electricity production from coal sources of total electricity production. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Coal refers to all coal and brown coal, both primary (including hard coal and lignite-brown coal) and derived fuels (including patent fuel, coke oven coke, gas coke, coke oven gas, and blast furnace gas). Peat is also included in this category.