China's power use tops 10.4 trillion kWh, shifting global energy dynamics

China surpassed the 10-trillion-kilowatt-hour threshold for annual power use in 2025, the National Energy Administration said, recording about 10.4 trillion kWh and a year-on-year increase of roughly 5 percent. The milestone, announced by state authorities on Jan. 17, 2026, is presented by Chinese officials as a marker of structural electrification that is reshaping domestic industry and projecting new influence on global energy demand.

State reporting framed the scale of consumption in global terms, noting the total is more than double that of the United States and exceeds the combined power use of the European Union, Russia, India and Japan. Those comparisons, advanced by the National Energy Administration and state media, signal how China’s internal transition toward electrified transport, digital services and high-end manufacturing is translating into material demand for electricity at an unprecedented scale.

Chinese authorities cited several interlocking drivers behind the increase. Rapid expansion of the digital economy and new infrastructure such as 5G base stations and charging facilities drove power use in internet-related services up by more than 30 percent in 2025. Electricity consumption in the information transmission, software and IT services sector rose by about 17 percent, according to state data. The battery and electric-vehicle charging and swapping sector showed especially sharp growth; the industry’s electricity use was reported to have climbed by nearly 50 percent, with a specific figure of 48.8 percent cited for the EV charging and battery-swap sector. Manufacturing linked to the energy transition also contributed meaningfully, with power use for new-energy-vehicle production rising more than 20 percent and electricity consumption for wind-power equipment manufacturing up by more than 30 percent.

Infrastructure statistics underline the rapid expansion of EV support networks. National Energy Administration data to the end of November 2025 showed more than 19.32 million charging guns in place across China, a 52 percent increase year on year. That build-out of charging capacity not only fuels vehicle electrification but also creates sizable and concentrated loads on distribution networks.

Chinese industry voices and officials emphasized a mix of economic and climatic factors in the surge. Yang Kun, executive vice chairman of the China Electricity Council, linked last year’s growth to stable macroeconomic fundamentals, prolonged high temperatures and rising household electrification. Those domestic conditions, he suggested, combined with targeted industrial policy to lift demand for power-intensive, technology-led sectors.

The announcement carries broader implications for energy markets and climate policy. For international markets, China’s expanded electricity consumption translates into sustained demand for fuels, equipment and raw materials tied to power generation and grid expansion, including renewables, storage and transmission hardware. For climate diplomacy, higher electricity volumes complicate trajectories for carbon emissions even as China shifts generation toward low-carbon sources; policymakers in Beijing and abroad will be watching how the balance between rising electrification and decarbonization plays out.

Official figures are consistent in scale but vary slightly in rounding; state releases put the total at about 10.4 trillion kWh, while some state outlets cited a closely rounded 10.37 trillion kWh. The National Energy Administration’s tally remains the primary official benchmark as China moves into a new phase of electrified growth with palpable international ramifications.