Share of primary energy use by source in South Korea
South Korea: Share of primary energy use by source was 17.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of primary energy use by source in South Korea, 1986–2025
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
The most recent figure for share of primary energy use by source in South Korea is 17.5%, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 40 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.9% on the previous year and up 29.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary energy use by source in South Korea peaked at 17.5% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 1986.
That places South Korea 55th out of 77 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 40 years of available data.
Share of primary energy use by source in South Korea, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 0.1% | — |
| 1987 | 2.8% | +2689.4% |
| 1988 | 3.3% | +15.2% |
| 1989 | 2.9% | -10.9% |
| 1990 | 2.9% | +0.7% |
| 1991 | 3.0% | +1.8% |
| 1992 | 3.5% | +16.4% |
| 1993 | 4.0% | +14.1% |
| 1994 | 4.9% | +22.9% |
| 1995 | 5.4% | +10.8% |
| 1996 | 6.5% | +19.6% |
| 1997 | 7.2% | +11.3% |
| 1998 | 7.3% | +2.2% |
| 1999 | 8.2% | +11.7% |
| 2000 | 8.7% | +6.3% |
| 2001 | 9.3% | +7.0% |
| 2002 | 9.9% | +6.2% |
| 2003 | 10.1% | +1.8% |
| 2004 | 11.5% | +13.9% |
| 2005 | 11.9% | +3.5% |
| 2006 | 12.5% | +5.6% |
| 2007 | 13.0% | +3.5% |
| 2008 | 13.1% | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 12.3% | -5.9% |
| 2010 | 14.5% | +17.7% |
| 2011 | 14.9% | +2.6% |
| 2012 | 15.9% | +7.0% |
| 2013 | 16.7% | +4.9% |
| 2014 | 15.0% | -10.0% |
| 2015 | 13.5% | -10.1% |
| 2016 | 13.6% | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 14.1% | +3.3% |
| 2018 | 16.0% | +13.9% |
| 2019 | 15.7% | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 16.6% | +5.2% |
| 2021 | 17.2% | +4.0% |
| 2022 | 17.0% | -1.2% |
| 2023 | 16.6% | -2.5% |
| 2024 | 17.3% | +4.4% |
| 2025 | 17.5% | +0.9% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 17.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 24.7%, 71% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 17.5% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 16.3%, 1.1× the median. (12 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary energy use by source 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | +2689.4% | 0.1% | 2.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 2.3% | 0.1% | 3.3% | 4 |
| 1990s | 5.3% | 2.9% | 8.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 11.2% | 8.7% | 13.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.0% | 13.5% | 16.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 17.0% | 16.6% | 17.5% | 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 use by source in South Korea?
- Share of primary energy use by source in South Korea was 17.5% 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 use by source recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 17.5% in 2025.
- What is the lowest share of primary energy use by source recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 1986.
- How does South Korea rank for share of primary energy use by source?
- South Korea ranks 55th out of 77 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of primary energy use by source rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 29.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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 use by source. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 40 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured as a percentage of total energy supply.