Energy intensity

Global energy intensity declined by 1% in 2024, slower than its 2010-2019 average and insufficient to meet the 2°C pathway.

Global energy intensity (total energy consumption per unit of GDP) dipped by 1% in 2024, i.e., slower than its historical 2%/year decline over 2010-2019. This downward trend is related to the higher share of renewables in power generation and efficiency gains but it remains very insufficient compared with the over 3.5%/year decrease required to achieve the 2°C scenario.
In the BRICS, which accounted for 43% of the primary energy consumption in 2024, energy intensity decreased by nearly 2% in 2024 but remained 27% higher than the world average. It declined by 1% in China – a slower pace than over 2010-2019 in China, remaining 35% above the global average – and by 2% in India (in line with its historical trend and 5% below the global average in 2024). Improvements were faster in Russia (-2%) but slower in South Africa (-1%, where it remained 53% above the global average). There was no improvement in Brazil, whose energy intensity has remained broadly stable since 2000.
In OECD countries, where the energy intensity is 26% lower than the global average, the continuing growth of renewable power generation contributed to reduce energy intensity by 1% though at a slower pace than over the 2010-2019 period (-2%/year). Improvements slowed down in the EU (-1.5%), the US (-2%), and Japan (-1%). They were also limited in South Korea, in the Pacific, in Africa, and in the Middle East.