**Consumption of energy from renewables and fossil fuels surged in 2024 because of rising global demand for electricity, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.**
In the latest edition of its annual _Global Energy Review_, the IEA found that global energy demand rose by 2.2% last year – considerably faster than the average annual demand increase of 1.3% between 2013 and 2023.
While emerging and developing economies accounted for more than 80% of the increase in global energy demand in 2024, even advanced economies saw rising consumption after years of decline.
The last few years have been particularly sluggish, with the Covid-19 pandemic impacting economies worldwide and massively reducing energy demand in 2020, albeit on a temporary basis. While growth soon returned, the Ukraine war and rebounding economies after the pandemic slump saw energy prices surge in 2022, which dampened down consumption.
The IEA said that 2024’s sharp increase was driven by record global temperatures, which boosted demand for cooling in many countries, as well as by rising consumption from industry, the electrification of transport, and the growth of data centres and artificial intelligence.
This was despite slower growth in China – the world’s largest energy consumer – which saw a rise of less than 3%, half that seen in 2023 and well below the country’s recent annual average. Meanwhile, advanced economies saw a return to growth, with their energy demand increasing by almost 1% overall.
The expanding supply of low-emission sources covered most of the increase in global electricity demand in 2024.
The amount of new renewable power capacity installed worldwide rose to around 700GW, setting a new annual record for the 22nd consecutive year. Nuclear power capacity additions reached their fifth-highest level in the past three decades.
As a result, 80% of the increase in global electricity generation in 2024 was provided by renewable sources and nuclear, which together contributed 40% of total generation for the first time. Nevertheless, the supply of natural gas-fired generation also increased steadily to cover rising electricity demand.
“There are many uncertainties in the world today and different narratives about energy – but this new data-driven IEA report puts some clear facts on the table about what is happening globally,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.
“What is certain is that electricity use is growing rapidly, pulling overall energy demand along with it to such an extent that it is enough to reverse years of declining energy consumption in advanced economies. The result is that demand for all major fuels and energy technologies increased in 2024, with renewables covering the largest share of the growth, followed by natural gas. And the strong expansion of solar, wind, nuclear power and EVs \[electric vehicles\] is increasingly loosening the links between economic growth and emissions.”
Natural gas saw the strongest increase in demand among fossil fuels in 2024. Gas demand rose by 115 billion cubic metres (bcm), or 2.7%, compared with an average of around 75bcm annually over the past decade.
Global coal demand also rose by 1% in 2024, half the rate of increase seen the previous year. According to the report, intense heatwaves in China and India – which pushed up cooling needs – contributed more than 90% of the total annual increase in coal consumption globally, highlighting the major impacts extreme weather can have on energy demand patterns.