Share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia
Australia: Share of electricity generation from hydropower was 4.3% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia, 1985–2025
Source: Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia stood at 4.3%. That is the lowest value across all 41 years on record.
That represents a change of down 6.5% on the previous year and down 23.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia peaked at 11.3% in 1985 and was at its lowest, 4.3%, in 2025.
That places Australia 121st out of 213 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 41 years of available data.
Share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 11.3% | — |
| 1986 | 10.8% | -3.9% |
| 1987 | 10.0% | -7.4% |
| 1988 | 10.0% | -0.3% |
| 1989 | 9.4% | -5.9% |
| 1990 | 9.5% | +0.7% |
| 1991 | 9.9% | +4.5% |
| 1992 | 9.9% | -0.3% |
| 1993 | 9.9% | +0.3% |
| 1994 | 9.5% | -4.2% |
| 1995 | 8.9% | -6.0% |
| 1996 | 8.9% | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 8.4% | -4.8% |
| 1998 | 7.9% | -6.2% |
| 1999 | 7.9% | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 7.6% | -3.5% |
| 2001 | 7.2% | -5.4% |
| 2002 | 7.2% | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 7.2% | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 6.8% | -4.6% |
| 2005 | 6.7% | -2.0% |
| 2006 | 6.3% | -6.3% |
| 2007 | 5.4% | -14.6% |
| 2008 | 4.8% | -10.2% |
| 2009 | 5.1% | +5.0% |
| 2010 | 5.5% | +8.3% |
| 2011 | 7.6% | +39.4% |
| 2012 | 6.8% | -11.0% |
| 2013 | 7.6% | +12.5% |
| 2014 | 5.8% | -23.6% |
| 2015 | 5.5% | -5.1% |
| 2016 | 6.8% | +23.1% |
| 2017 | 5.2% | -23.6% |
| 2018 | 6.6% | +26.4% |
| 2019 | 5.3% | -20.0% |
| 2020 | 5.4% | +3.1% |
| 2021 | 6.0% | +9.6% |
| 2022 | 6.1% | +2.4% |
| 2023 | 5.5% | -9.5% |
| 2024 | 4.6% | -17.4% |
| 2025 | 4.3% | -6.5% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 4.3% is above the median for high income countries, which is 1.0%, 4.3× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Australia's 4.3% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 7.3%, 59% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | +39.4% | 5.5% | 7.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 10.3% | 9.4% | 11.3% | 5 |
| 1990s | 9.1% | 7.9% | 9.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.4% | 4.8% | 7.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.3% | 5.2% | 7.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 4.3% | 6.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More energy & mining data for Australia
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate -0.4235 % 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 0.0001 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 11.7% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia?
- Share of electricity generation from hydropower in Australia was 4.3% in 2025, according to Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of electricity generation from hydropower recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 11.3% in 1985.
- What is the lowest share of electricity generation from hydropower recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.3% in 2025.
- How does Australia rank for share of electricity generation from hydropower?
- Australia ranks 121st out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of electricity generation from hydropower rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of electricity generation from hydropower. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 41 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured as a percentage of total electricity produced in the country or region.