Global electricity consumption comes closer to its historical growth trend (+2% in 2022).

Global electricity consumption increased by 2% in 2022, returning closer to its average 2010-2019 growth (+2.8%/year), much below its 2021 growth rate (+5.8%). Most of the growth occurred in Asia (+3.6%) and the United States. In China, the largest electricity consumer (32% of the global electricity consumption), consumption increased by 3.4%; despite a significant slowdown (compared to +10% in 2021 and around +7%/year over the 2010-2019 period), China’s electricity consumption is more than twice higher than in 2010. Economic growth raised electricity consumption in India (+9.6%) and the USA (+2.6%) (in these two countries, extreme temperatures also contributed to the higher power demand), in Saudi Arabia (+5.9%) and Indonesia (+7.7%). Electricity consumption also rose in South Korea (+2.7%), Malaysia (+6%), Russia and Canada (+1.5% each), Latin America (+1.9%, including +2.3% in Mexico, +1.1% in Brazil, and +3.6% in Argentina), and in Australia (+1.9%). In Europe, electricity consumption declined by 2.9% (-3.1% in the EU, -3.5% in the UK, and stable in Türkiye), as surging gas-related electricity prices, exceptionally mild weather and energy conservation efforts contributed to reduce industrial and residential demand. Electricity consumption also declined in Japan (-1.7%) and in South Africa (-2.8%, due to power plant unavailability and forced loadshedding measures).