Global power consumption recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic (+5.5% in 2021).

Global electricity consumption, which had contracted by 0.7% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, grew by +5.5% in 2021, +4.8% above its 2019 level. In China, the largest electricity consumer with 31% of global electricity consumption, power consumption rose by nearly 10%, exceeding its 2010-2019 trend (+7.3%/year) and its 2019 level, triggered by the economic recovery. In other countries, the economic recovery also revived electricity demand, especially in Europe (+4%, back to its 2019 level, with strong increases in Turkey, France, Germany, Italy and Poland), in the United States (+1.7%, slightly below the 2019 level), and in Russia (+6%). Electricity consumption increased in most Asia-Pacific countries, rising by around 5% in India, Indonesia and South Korea, but stagnated in Australia and declined in Japan, in a context of strict anti-COVID-19 policies. It remained stable in Canada. Electricity consumption recovered in Latin America (+6.1%, with an 8.6% growth in Brazil and dynamic trends in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia), in Africa (around +5%, including +2.3% in South Africa) and in the Middle East (around +5.5%, including about +4% in Saudi Arabia).