Share of primary energy from oil in South Korea
South Korea: Share of primary energy from oil was 41.8% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of primary energy from oil in South Korea, 1965–2025
Source: Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of primary energy from oil in South Korea stood at 41.8%.
That represents a change of down 1.1% on the previous year and up 1.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary energy from oil in South Korea peaked at 67.4% in 1978 and was at its lowest, 20.6%, in 1965.
South Korea ranks 35th of 80 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 61 years of available data.
Share of primary energy from oil in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 20.6% | — |
| 1966 | 25.5% | +23.7% |
| 1967 | 38.3% | +50.4% |
| 1968 | 49.3% | +28.6% |
| 1969 | 55.7% | +12.9% |
| 1970 | 59.6% | +7.1% |
| 1971 | 62.2% | +4.4% |
| 1972 | 62.6% | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 62.1% | -0.8% |
| 1974 | 62.0% | -0.2% |
| 1975 | 63.7% | +2.8% |
| 1976 | 63.9% | +0.3% |
| 1977 | 66.0% | +3.2% |
| 1978 | 67.4% | +2.1% |
| 1979 | 65.8% | -2.3% |
| 1980 | 63.2% | -3.9% |
| 1981 | 59.9% | -5.2% |
| 1982 | 59.2% | -1.2% |
| 1983 | 57.0% | -3.8% |
| 1984 | 52.3% | -8.3% |
| 1985 | 50.1% | -4.2% |
| 1986 | 48.4% | -3.3% |
| 1987 | 45.9% | -5.2% |
| 1988 | 48.9% | +6.6% |
| 1989 | 51.5% | +5.2% |
| 1990 | 54.6% | +6.1% |
| 1991 | 58.4% | +6.8% |
| 1992 | 62.8% | +7.6% |
| 1993 | 63.0% | +0.3% |
| 1994 | 63.9% | +1.3% |
| 1995 | 63.9% | -0.0% |
| 1996 | 61.8% | -3.1% |
| 1997 | 62.3% | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 56.6% | -9.1% |
| 1999 | 55.7% | -1.6% |
| 2000 | 54.0% | -3.1% |
| 2001 | 52.6% | -2.6% |
| 2002 | 51.2% | -2.7% |
| 2003 | 50.0% | -2.3% |
| 2004 | 48.3% | -3.4% |
| 2005 | 47.0% | -2.7% |
| 2006 | 46.1% | -1.9% |
| 2007 | 46.1% | -0.0% |
| 2008 | 43.1% | -6.5% |
| 2009 | 43.3% | +0.6% |
| 2010 | 41.1% | -5.2% |
| 2011 | 39.5% | -3.8% |
| 2012 | 40.5% | +2.5% |
| 2013 | 40.6% | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 40.0% | -1.5% |
| 2015 | 41.2% | +3.1% |
| 2016 | 43.5% | +5.4% |
| 2017 | 42.7% | -1.9% |
| 2018 | 41.7% | -2.3% |
| 2019 | 41.8% | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 41.1% | -1.7% |
| 2021 | 41.7% | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 41.7% | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 41.6% | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 42.2% | +1.6% |
| 2025 | 41.8% | -1.1% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 41.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 41.8%, 100% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 41.8% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 39.2%, 1.1× the median. (12 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary energy from oil in South Korea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | +50.4% | 25.5% | 38.3% |
| 1968 | +28.6% | 38.3% | 49.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 37.9% | 20.6% | 55.7% | 5 |
| 1970s | 63.5% | 59.6% | 67.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 53.6% | 45.9% | 63.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 60.3% | 54.6% | 63.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 48.1% | 43.1% | 54.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 41.3% | 39.5% | 43.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 41.7% | 41.1% | 42.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More energy & mining data for South Korea
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate -1.55 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0.0001 terawatt-hours per person (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)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Fuel imports 25.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary energy from oil in South Korea?
- Share of primary energy from oil in South Korea was 41.8% in 2025, according to Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary energy from oil recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 67.4% in 1978.
- What is the lowest share of primary energy from oil recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.6% in 1965.
- How does South Korea rank for share of primary energy from oil?
- South Korea ranks 35th out of 80 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of primary energy from oil rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary energy from oil. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 61 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured as a percentage of total energy supply.