Renewables were the largest source of global energy supply growth in 2025, as electricity outpaced energy demand growth.

There was a 30 per cent growth in global solar energy in 2025 compared to 2024, against a 3 per cent growth in electricity demand.

The figures come from the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, produced in partnership with Ember, that analyses data on world energy markets from the prior year.

Renewables were the largest source of total energy supply growth for the first time outside a recession, with solar power accounting for 71 per cent of this increase. Renewables increased by 10 per cent, with solar up 30 per cent. Countries are also increasingly shifting solar electricity round-the-clock, with battery capacity up 66 per cent.

In comparison, oil use increased by 1.3 per cent and gas 1.6 per cent. Over the past decade, renewable sources have supplied 31 per cent of the growth in total energy supply, almost on a par with gas.

Global carbon emissions from the energy sector rose by 1.1 per cent to 35.8Gt of CO2. More than a third of that rise was from the US. Europe’s CO2 emissions from the energy sector increased by 0.5 per cent. North America had the second-largest regional growth rate at 2.7 per cent (after Africa at 2.8 per cent) and largest growth in absolute terms of 152.3 million tonnes of CO2, bucking the region’s 10-year decline trend.

In the last 60 years, the way in which the world meets its growing demand for energy has changed substantially. Before 1975, oil was the main supplier of energy growth, meeting 61 per cent of the world’s increase in energy supply between 1966-1975. The decade that followed the oil shocks of the 1970s saw a pronounced shift towards other sources, with oil consumption growth slowing considerably between 1976-1985.

The last two decades have seen a new driver of global energy supply growth as renewable sources have grown in scale. Between 2016 and 2025, renewable sources (including hydro) supplied 30 per cent of the increase in global total energy supply, compared to less than 5 per cent two decades earlier.

---