China’s electricity consumption hits historic 10T kWh in 2025

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) - China’s electricity consumption reached a historic high last year, exceeding 10 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Saturday.

According to state-run Xinhua News, the NEA figures showed that total power consumption reached 10.4 trillion kWh in 2025, marking a 5% increase compared with the previous year.

This unprecedented level also made China the world’s first country to cross the 10-trillion-kWh threshold in annual electricity use, more than twice the amount consumed by the US and higher than the combined total of the EU, Russia, India, and Japan.

Yang Kun, executive vice chairman of the China Electricity Council, attributed last year’s growth to stable and positive fundamentals of the macroeconomy, extended periods of high temperatures, and increasing household electrification.

In 2025, power consumption in the production of new energy vehicles rose by more than 20%, while usage in wind power equipment manufacturing climbed by over 30%.

At the same time, construction of new infrastructure, such as 5G base stations and electric vehicle charging facilities, pushed electricity use in the internet and related services sector up by more than 30%.

Power consumption for battery charging and swapping also surged nearly 50% last year.

By the end of November 2025, China had more than 19.32 million electric vehicle charging guns in operation, a year-on-year increase of 52%, according to NEA data.