Share of electricity generation from hydropower in United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Share of electricity generation from hydropower was 1.9% in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
1.9%
Change on year
down 6.3%
World rank
136th
of 213 countries
All-time high
4.3%
in 1938
All-time low
0.2%
in 1926
Years of data
106
1920–2025

Share of electricity generation from hydropower in United Kingdom, 1920–2025

01234192019722025

Source: Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

United Kingdom recorded 1.9% for share of electricity generation from hydropower in 2025.

That represents a change of down 6.3% on the previous year and up 2.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of electricity generation from hydropower in United Kingdom peaked at 4.3% in 1938 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1926.

United Kingdom ranks 136th of 213 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 106 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1920s 0.5% 0.2% 1.4% 10
1930s 3.5% 2.6% 4.3% 10
1940s 2.9% 1.6% 3.8% 10
1950s 2.9% 2.0% 3.5% 10
1960s 2.5% 1.6% 3.2% 10
1970s 1.7% 1.5% 2.1% 10
1980s 1.6% 1.3% 1.9% 10
1990s 1.4% 1.0% 1.7% 10
2000s 1.2% 0.8% 1.4% 10
2010s 1.6% 0.9% 1.9% 10
2020s 1.9% 1.7% 2.2% 6

Countries ranked near United Kingdom

  1. 133 Morocco 2.0% compare
  2. 134 Belarus 2.0% compare
  3. 135 Taiwan 1.9% compare
  4. 137 Iraq 1.3% compare
  5. 138 Poland 1.0% compare
  6. 139 South Africa 0.8% compare

See the full ranking of 215 places →

More energy & mining data for United Kingdom

All data for United Kingdom →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of electricity generation from hydropower in United Kingdom?
Share of electricity generation from hydropower in United Kingdom was 1.9% 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 United Kingdom?
The highest recorded value was 4.3% in 1938.
What is the lowest share of electricity generation from hydropower recorded in United Kingdom?
The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1926.
How does United Kingdom rank for share of electricity generation from hydropower?
United Kingdom ranks 136th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
Is share of electricity generation from hydropower rising or falling in United Kingdom?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United Kingdom 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 — 106 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of electricity generation from hydropower
Unit
%
Source
Ember (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
215 places, 6,588 data points, 1920–2025
Last refreshed

Measured as a percentage of total electricity produced in the country or region.