2 - ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition)

The following analysis is an overview from the publication Electricity Information 2018.

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ELECTRICITY OVERVIEW
Electricity summary
This section presents an overview of global electricity
production up to 2016, along with provisional data for
2017 from OECD members and other countries for
which official data are available.
Production
Between 1974 and 2016, world gross electricity pro-
duction (including pumped hydro)1 increased from
6 298 TWh to 25 082 TWh, an average annual growth
rate of 3.3%. In 2016, production was 2.9% higher
than 2015. Year-on-year, global electricity production
has grown each continuously since 1974, except for
between 2008 and 2009, when the economic crisis in
OECD countries caused a visible decline in global
production.
In 2016, non-OECD countries’ share of production
reached 56.2% of world electricity generation, double
the share (28.0%) they held in 1974, reflecting the
higher average growth rate which has prevailed in the
non-OECD regions since 2000. From 1974 to 2000,
electricity production increased at an average annual
rate of 4.6% in non-OECD countries, compared with
3.0% in OECD countries. However, the respective
growth rates diverged following the turn of the centu-
ry, with annual production growth between 2000 and
2010 averaging 1.1% in OECD countries, compared
with 6.4% in non-OECD countries, while from 2010
to 2016, average growth fell to just 0.1% in OECD
1. Throughout this analysis electricity production figures include
production from pumped storage hydro. This is in contrast to the
Renewables Information and World Energy Balances publications,
which exclude pumped storage generation from production figures.
ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition) - 3
Figure 1: Total gross electricity production
16 000
14 000
12 000
10 000
TWh
8 000
6 000
4 000
2 000
0
1974 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016
Non-OECD OECD
countries, compared with 4.8% in non-OECD coun-
tries. In 2011, non-OECD electricity production sur-
passed OECD production for the first time, and its
share of production has continued to increase since
then.
In 2016, generation from combustible fuels2 accounted
for 67.3% of total world gross electricity production (of
which: 65.1% from fossil fuels; 2.3% from biofuels
and waste3), hydroelectric plants (including pumped
storage) provided 16.6%; nuclear plants 10.4%; geo-
thermal, solar, wind, tide and other sources 5.6%; and
biofuels and waste made up the remaining 2.3%.
2. Combustible fuels refer to fuels that are capable of igniting or
burning, i.e. reacting with oxygen to produce a significant rise in
temperature. Fuels included are: coal and coal products, oil and oil
products, natural gas, biofuels including solid biomass and animal
products, gas/liquids from biomass, industrial waste and municipal
waste.
3. Waste includes industrial waste, and renewable and non-renewable
municipal waste.
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4 - ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition)

Figure 2: World gross electricity production, Figure 3: OECD gross electricity production
by source, 2016 variation, 2016-2017p

Solar/wind/ Biofuels
geoth./tide/ and waste
other 2.3%
5.6%

Hydro
16.6% Coal
38.3%

Nuclear
10.4% Natural
gas
23.1%
Oil
3.7%

OECD production
Figure 4a: OECD gross electricity production,
Gross electricity production (including generation by source, 2017p
from pumped storage plants) in the OECD reached
11 033 TWh in provisional 2017 figures, an increase Biofuels
Solar/wind/
and waste
of 0.2% compared to the revised 2016 figure of geoth./tide/
3.2%
other
11 007 TWh. 9.6%
Between 2016 and 2017, there was a decrease in elec- Coal
tricity production from fossil fuels, the fifth consecu- 27.3%
Hydro
tive year of generation decrease by fossil fuels, with 13.3%
declines observed in output from oil (-7.2%), natural
gas (-1.6%), and coal (-1.1%). There were also de- Oil
clines in generation from nuclear (-0.7%) and hydroe- 2.0%
Nuclear
lectric plants (-0.7%), due to scheduled maintenance 17.7% Natural
and variations in weather patterns, respectively. Elec- gas
tricity generation from renewable sources such as 26.8%
wind (+15.1%) and solar (+21.9%) registered robust
growth.
In 2017, generation from total combustible fuels ac- Figure 4b: OECD gross electricity production,
counted for 59.4% of total OECD gross electricity by source, 1974-2017p
production (of which: 56.1% from fossil fuels; 3.2% 50%
from biofuels and waste4); nuclear plants 17.7%; hy-
droelectric plants 13.3%; and geothermal, solar, wind, 40%
tide and other plants at 9.6%.
% share

30%
In terms of production shares, 2017 was similar to
2016, with gas generation virtually matching coal- 20%
fired generation across the OECD, at 26.8% and
27.3% respectively. Renewables and waste combined 10%
was also around this figure, at 26.1%, whilst nuclear
made up just under a fifth of total generation (17.7%). 0%
1974 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2017p
Coal Oil
Natural gas Nuclear
4. Waste includes industrial waste, and renewable and non-renewable Hydro Solar, wind, geoth., etc.
municipal waste. Biofuels and waste

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 ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition) - 5

Non-OECD production OECD capacity

In 2016, gross electricity production (including
pumped hydro) in non-OECD countries was Official final capacity data are available only for
14 075 TWh, an increase of 4.6% on 2015 levels, well OECD countries and up to the end of 2016.
above OECD growth levels of 0.8% for the same pe- In 2016, the OECD countries reported 2 949 GW of total
riod. While complete statistics are not available for all installed capacity, a 1.7% increase over 2015. The total
non-OECD countries for 2017, provisional data for capacity consisted of 1 690 GW of plants fired by fossil
China show that gross electricity generation reached and other combustible fuels, 489 GW of hydroelectric
6 218 TWh in 2017, a 4.5% increase on 2016 levels. power (including pumped storage capacity), 302 GW
In 2016, 72.8% of non-OECD electricity production of nuclear power, 264 GW of wind, 194 GW of solar
was generated from combustible fuels (of which: (of which: 4 GW was solar thermal) and 10 GW of
71.3% from fossil fuels; 1.5% from biofuels and geothermal, tide/wave/ocean and others combined.
waste); 19.1% was provided by hydroelectric plants; Overall, 49.8 GW of generating capacity was added in
4.6% by nuclear plants; and 3.5% by geothermal, solar, 2016, with the largest absolute growth seen in solar
wind, tide and other sources. PV (28.2 GW; 17.4%), wind (25.3 GW; 10.6%), and
hydro (5.7 GW; 1.2%), more than offsetting the de-
Figure 5a: Non-OECD gross electricity production, crease in combustible fuels (-11.6 GW; -0.7%).
by source, 2016 Total generating capacity in the OECD increased at an
average annual rate of 2.9% between 1974 and 2000,
Biofuels driven mainly by increases in nuclear (6.9%), hydro-
Solar/wind/ and waste
geoth./tide/ 1.5% electric (3.4%), and combustible fuels (2.2%). From
other 2000 and 2010, capacity increased at an average rate
3.5%
of 2.5%, driven mainly by combustible fuels (2.5%),
Hydro and wind (24.1%), while nuclear (0.4%) and hydro
19.1% (0.7%), grew at far lower rates. Between 2010 and
Coal 2016, the growth in capacity slowed to 1.8%. How-
Nuclear 46.5% ever, unlike the preceding periods, the majority
4.6% (96.5%) of the increase was driven by growth in solar
Natural (30.5%) and wind (12%) capacity as countries began
gas
19.8% to invest in renewable energy infrastructure. An in-
crease in capacity was also observed for hydro
(1.1%), while slight declines were recorded for com-
Oil bustible fuels (-0.1%) and nuclear (-0.6%).
4.9%
Figure 6: OECD net electrical capacity by source

Figure 5b: Non-OECD gross electricity production, 3 500

by source, 1974-2016
3 000
50% 2 500
2 000
GW

40%
1 500
30%
% share

1 000
20% 500
0
10% 1974 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016

0%
1974 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016
Combustible Fuels Nuclear
Hydro Wind
Coal Oil Solar Other sources*
Natural gas Nuclear
Hydro Solar, wind, geoth., etc. * includes geothermal, tide, wave, ocean, chemical heat and other non-
Biofuels and waste specified (e.g. fuel cells) sources of electricity production.

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6 - ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition)

Consumption share of total consumption of the residential, and

In 2016, world total final electricity consumption
reached 20 863 TWh, 3.2% above the 2015 figure.
The average growth rate of electricity final consump-
tion in the world between 1974 and 2016 was 3.3%.
OECD consumption
In 2016, OECD total final electricity consumption
was 9 512 TWh, 1.4% higher than in 2015. Provision-
al data for 2017 show gross supply of electricity
(including pumped hydro) in the OECD was
11 033 TWh, a 0.2% increase compared to 2016.
Figure 7: World electricity final consumption
by sector
25 000
20 000
15 000
TWh
commercial and public service sectors increased from
48.4% in 1974 to 62.9% in 2016. Although the
amount of electricity consumed in industry increased
from 1 874 TWh in 1974 to 3 031 TWh in 2016, in-
dustry’s share of total electricity consumption in the
OECD fell from 48.7% in 1974 to 31.9% in 2016,
yielding share, for the most part, towards the residen-
tial sector. However, this pattern is not consistent
across all OECD countries. For instance, in Korea,
industry consumed 51% of electricity consumption in
2016, compared with 13% in the residential sector;
while in New Zealand, the share of consumption in
the residential sector declined from 47% in 1974 to
32% in 2016, as relative consumption in the commer-
cial and public services sector grew.
In 2016, industry was still the largest end-use sector
for electricity consumption, but its share of consump-
tion has been in long-term decline. The restructuring
of OECD economies and improvements in efficiency in
energy intensive manufacturing and processing indus-

tries led to relatively low growth rates in industry sector

10 000 electricity consumption since 1974, compared to much
higher demand growth in the residential and commer-
5 000 cial and public services sectors. Although, industry is
still the largest consuming sector in 2016, its share of
0 consumption (31.9%) is only marginally greater than
1974 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016
that of the commercial and public services (31.8%),
Others* Transport
and residential sectors (31.1%).
Commercial and public services Residential
Industry In 2016, OECD industrial electricity consumption
* includes Agriculture and forestry, fishing, and other non-specified. increased by 0.7%, following four years of decline,
with the largest absolute increase observed in the
Figure 8: OECD electricity final consumption
by sector, 2016
chemical and petrochemicals subsector (11.0 TWh;
2.5%); while the paper, pulp and printing sector post-
Others* ed the largest relative increase (9.0 TWh; 3.1%).
4.0%
Figure 9: OECD average annual growth rate in
electricity final consumption by sector

-1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6%
Industry
Commercial 31.9%
and public
Industry
services
31.8%
Transport

Residential
31.1% Transport Residential
1.2%
Commercial and
public services
* includes Agriculture and forestry, fishing, and other non-specified.
Others*

Much of the growth in OECD electricity consumption

since 1974 has taken place in the residential, and 1974-2000 2000-2010 2010-2016
commercial and public service sectors. The combined * includes Agriculture, forestry and fishing.

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The remaining consumption sectors, transport (mainly
rail), agriculture (mainly irrigation pumps) and fishing
sectors are relatively small consumers of electricity.
However, within the transport sector, road transport,
has recently experienced strong growth in electricity
consumption, with the sector posting double-digit
growth rates each year since 2012, underlining the
increasing electrification of the transport sector, as
electric vehicles gain market share across OECD
countries, in particular in Europe. For instance, in
Norway, the global leader in terms of market share,
39% of new cars sold in 2017 were electric (IEA,
2018a). The next highest market shares were recorded
in Iceland (12%) and Sweden (6%), while sales
growth in Germany and Japan more than doubled in
compared with 2016 (IEA, 2018b). However, whilst
growing, electricity used in road transport represents
only 0.07% of OECD final consumption of electricity,
and electricity just 0.05% of OECD total road
transport energy use.
Non-OECD consumption
In 2016, final electricity consumption in non-OECD
countries was 11 351 TWh, an increase of 4.8% from
2015. Between 1974 and 2016, final electricity con-
sumption increased at an average annual rate of 5.1%.
Non-OECD countries’ share of world electricity final
consumption has been experiencing sustained growth,
increasing from 27.1% in 1974 to 54.4% in 2016.
Figure 10: Non-OECD electricity final consumption
by sector, 2016
Others*
10.2%
Commercial
and public
services
13.8%
Industry
49.8%
Residential
24.0%
Transport
2.1%
* includes Agriculture and forestry, fishing, and other non-specified.
ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition) - 7
The four largest non-OECD consumers of electricity
in 2016, were the People’s Republic of China
(hereafter, “China”), India, the Russian Federation
and Brazil, which together represent 66.3% of all
non-OECD electricity consumption (or 36.1% of
global consumption). Among these countries, China
has the largest share, at 45.6% of total non-OECD
consumption. Electricity use outside the OECD is
dominated by industrial demand which accounts for
half of consumption.
Figure 11: Top ten electricity consuming
countries, 2016
TWh
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
People's Republic of China
United States
India
Japan
Russian Federation
Germany
Korea
Brazil
Canada Top ten total: 14 250 TWh
World total: 20 863 TWh
France
Trade
Electricity trade between neighbouring countries has
become much more common in recent years. Often
when reporting electricity flows, countries use elec-
tricity trade as a “balancing” item. This leads to con-
siderable variation in import and export data. In addi-
tion, the transmission and distribution line losses be-
tween net importers and net exporters are difficult to
determine. Both of these factors lead to differences
between reported net imports and net exports in trad-
ing countries.
OECD electricity trade
In the OECD, imports of electricity grew from 89 TWh
in 1974 to 474 TWh in 2017, representing an average
annual growth rate of 4.0%, compared to the 2.1%
growth in overall electricity supply. OECD exports of
electricity grew from 81 TWh in 1974 to 495 TWh in
2017, with the average annual growth rate standing
at 4.3%.
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8 - ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition)

Figure 12: OECD Europe electricity imports 2016 where hydroelectric production decreased due to
and exports
lower rainfall. To compensate for this loss in supply,
500 Sweden, a net exporter of electricity since 2011, in-
400 creased its imports by 5.0 TWh, and decreased it
300
exports by 5.9 TWh, thus increasing supply by
10.9 TWh, an amount similar in magnitude to the de-
200
crease in production from hydro (13.3 TWh). When
100
TWh

domestic production increased in 2017, Sweden saw

0
1974 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
-100
-200
-300
-400
-500
Imports Exports
Figure 13: OECD Europe net importers
and exporters of electricity (GWh), 2017p*
* This map is without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any
territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to
the name of any territory, city or area.
Substantial trade in electricity occurs in
OECD Europe, principally between OECD countries,
and in OECD Americas. In OECD Europe, electricity
imports grew at an average annual rate of 4.1% be-
tween 1974 and 2017. In OECD Americas, total im-
ports increased by an average annual rate of 3.5%
between 1974 and 20165.
Electricity trade can be used to compensate for fluctu-
ations in domestic generation, such as in Sweden in
5. Electricity trade data for OECD Americas are subject to revision.
Work to reconcile trade data for OECD Americas is an ongoing aspect
of the North America Trilateral.
2017p its imports decrease.
Non-OECD electricity trade
Outside of the OECD, there is substantial electricity
trade between the Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine and other countries of the
former Soviet Union. These countries export signifi-
cant quantities of electricity to net importing countries
such as Belarus, Moldova as well as in neighbouring
OECD Europe countries.
In South America, electricity produced by large hydro-
electric plants in Paraguay is exported to Brazil and
Argentina (in 2016, net exports from Paraguay were
48.4 TWh). Electricity trade between Chile and
Argentina (small amounts) resumed in 2016.
In Africa, there is significant trade in the southern
portion of the continent. South Africa exports a signif-
icant amount of power to Zimbabwe. Mozambique,
which has been a net electricity importer, became a
net exporter in 1998 as a new hydro project came into
service. In 2016, net exports from South Africa were
6.0 TWh, while net exports from Mozambique were
4.3 TWh.
In Asia, India has historically been a net importer of
electricity, much of which came from hydro facilities in
neighbouring Bhutan, with net imports reaching as high
as 5.8 TWh in 2008. However, the situation reversed
in 2016, with India exporting a net amount of elec-
tricity (1.1 TWh). An increasing amount of electricity
trade is also seen in countries lying in the Mekong
River Basin, with China, the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, and Myanmar acting as net exporters of
electricity, chiefly of hydroelectric origin. With sig-
nificant investments in its power infrastructure in the
last decade, and aided in part by its unique geographic
position of having the largest number of neighbouring
countries, China has transformed itself from being a
net importer of electricity in the early 1990s to a
major power exporter in the region. In 2016, China’s
net exports reached 12.7 TWh, over six times the

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amount of net exports recorded in 1994, the year
China first became a net exporter of electricity.
OECD prices
In 2017, the average real electricity price across
OECD countries decreased by 1.2% compared with
2016 levels, driven by a decline in prices for industry
of 2.8%, while prices for households increased
by 0.5%.
Electricity prices for consumers vary widely across
OECD countries. Based on available 2017 data, elec-
tricity prices for industry were the lowest in Norway
(USD 45.53 per MWh), while they were the highest in
Germany (USD 142.94 per MWh). However, no
data are presently available for Italy for 2017, where
ELECTRICITY INFORMATION: OVERVIEW (2018 edition) - 9
prices averaged 184.73 USD per MWh in 2016. Elec-
tricity prices for households varied from USD 63.76
per MWh in Mexico to as high as USD 343.59
per MWh in Germany.
References
IEA (2018a), Nordic EV Outlook 2018: Insights from
leaders in electricity mobility. Retrieved from
www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publicati
on/nordic-ev-outlook-2018.html.
IEA (2018b), Global EV Outlook 2018: Towards
cross-modal electrification. Retrieved from
www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publicati
on/global-ev-outlook-2018.html.
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