Primary energy use in Greenland
Greenland: Primary energy use was 2.7 terawatt-hours in 2024. ▲ Rising
Primary energy use in Greenland, 1980–2024
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 terawatt-hours.
Analysis
The most recent figure for primary energy use in Greenland is 2.7 terawatt-hours, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, primary energy use in Greenland peaked at 3.82 terawatt-hours in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.9655 terawatt-hours, in 1987.
Greenland ranks 184th of 219 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
Primary energy use in Greenland, year by year
| Year | terawatt-hours | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 2.29 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1981 | 2.16 terawatt-hours | -5.7% |
| 1982 | 2.1 terawatt-hours | -2.9% |
| 1983 | 1.48 terawatt-hours | -29.4% |
| 1984 | 2.35 terawatt-hours | +58.8% |
| 1985 | 2.1 terawatt-hours | -10.8% |
| 1986 | 1.4 terawatt-hours | -33.5% |
| 1987 | 0.9655 terawatt-hours | -30.8% |
| 1988 | 2.26 terawatt-hours | +134.0% |
| 1989 | 1.99 terawatt-hours | -11.8% |
| 1990 | 2.28 terawatt-hours | +14.2% |
| 1991 | 2.25 terawatt-hours | -1.2% |
| 1992 | 2 terawatt-hours | -11.1% |
| 1993 | 2.04 terawatt-hours | +2.3% |
| 1994 | 2.05 terawatt-hours | +0.6% |
| 1995 | 2.05 terawatt-hours | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 2.18 terawatt-hours | +6.0% |
| 1997 | 2.23 terawatt-hours | +2.6% |
| 1998 | 2.23 terawatt-hours | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 2.4 terawatt-hours | +7.7% |
| 2000 | 2.64 terawatt-hours | +9.8% |
| 2001 | 2.46 terawatt-hours | -6.8% |
| 2002 | 2.33 terawatt-hours | -5.2% |
| 2003 | 2.6 terawatt-hours | +11.4% |
| 2004 | 2.47 terawatt-hours | -4.7% |
| 2005 | 3.03 terawatt-hours | +22.6% |
| 2006 | 2.77 terawatt-hours | -8.7% |
| 2007 | 3.16 terawatt-hours | +14.2% |
| 2008 | 2.78 terawatt-hours | -12.3% |
| 2009 | 2.97 terawatt-hours | +6.8% |
| 2010 | 3.82 terawatt-hours | +29.0% |
| 2011 | 3.7 terawatt-hours | -3.2% |
| 2012 | 2.99 terawatt-hours | -19.1% |
| 2013 | 2.95 terawatt-hours | -1.3% |
| 2014 | 2.69 terawatt-hours | -9.0% |
| 2015 | 2.89 terawatt-hours | +7.4% |
| 2016 | 2.89 terawatt-hours | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 2.9 terawatt-hours | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 2.62 terawatt-hours | -9.6% |
| 2019 | 2.7 terawatt-hours | +3.1% |
| 2020 | 2.59 terawatt-hours | -4.1% |
| 2021 | 2.54 terawatt-hours | -1.7% |
| 2022 | 2.69 terawatt-hours | +5.7% |
| 2023 | 2.69 terawatt-hours | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 2.7 terawatt-hours | +0.3% |
Greenland compared with similar countries
- Greenland's 2.7 terawatt-hours is below the median for high income countries, which is 158.21 terawatt-hours, 2% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Greenland's 2.7 terawatt-hours is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 208.03 terawatt-hours, 1% of the median. (50 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Primary energy use in Greenland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | +134.0% | 0.9655 terawatt-hours | 2.26 terawatt-hours |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1.91 terawatt-hours | 0.9655 terawatt-hours | 2.35 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.17 terawatt-hours | 2 terawatt-hours | 2.4 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.72 terawatt-hours | 2.33 terawatt-hours | 3.16 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.01 terawatt-hours | 2.62 terawatt-hours | 3.82 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.64 terawatt-hours | 2.54 terawatt-hours | 2.7 terawatt-hours | 5 |
Countries ranked near Greenland
- 181 Antigua and Barbuda 3.12 terawatt-hours compare
- 182 Cape Verde 3.11 terawatt-hours compare
- 183 East Timor 2.78 terawatt-hours compare
- 185 Saint Lucia 2.65 terawatt-hours compare
- 186 Bermuda 2.41 terawatt-hours compare
- 187 American Samoa 2.32 terawatt-hours compare
More energy & mining data for Greenland
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate 0.2748 % change on previous year (2024)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Fuel imports 16.4% (2018)
Frequently asked questions
- What is primary energy use in Greenland?
- Primary energy use in Greenland was 2.7 terawatt-hours in 2024, 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 primary energy use recorded in Greenland?
- The highest recorded value was 3.82 terawatt-hours in 2010.
- What is the lowest primary energy use recorded in Greenland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9655 terawatt-hours in 1987.
- How does Greenland rank for primary energy use?
- Greenland ranks 184th out of 219 countries with data for 2024.
- Is primary energy use rising or falling in Greenland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Greenland 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 Primary energy use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 45 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured in terawatt-hours of total energy supply.