China's power consumption hits record 10.4 trillion kWh in 2025

China's total electricity consumption reached 10.4 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025 for the first time, breaking the record for power use by a single country, the National Energy Administration (NEA) announced on Saturday.

By comparison, China's power use is more than double that of the United States and greater than the combined total of the European Union, Russia, India and Japan, according to the NEA data.

Total consumption grew five percent year on year in 2025, with electricity use in the tertiary sector and household use in urban and rural areas rising 8.2 percent and 6.3 percent respectively, together accounting for about half of the increase.

In the tertiary sector, electricity demand from battery-swapping and charging services jumped 48.8 percent, partly reflecting the expansion of green consumption, such as electric vehicles, while usage by information transmission, software and IT services increased 17 percent.

Meanwhile, renewable energy played a growing role in the power mix. China added about 370 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity in 2025, with electricity generated from wind and solar accounting for around 22 percent of total power consumption, according to the national energy work conference held on Thursday. 

"China will make solid progress in advancing the green and low-carbon transition of its energy system in 2026 and continue to increase the share of new energy supply," Wang Hongzhi, head of the NEA, said at the conference.