This is according to the Statistical Review of World Energy 2025, which identifies the largest consumers of coal and shows how demand is distributed among the world’s leading economies.
The two “coal giants” are followed by the United States, with a share of 4.8%, in the third position of the ranking by a wide margin. Next, in a more or less dense group are Indonesia (2.9%), Japan (2.7%) and Russia (2.3%). The European leader in coal power is Germany – 1% of global consumption.
As countries transition to cleaner energy sources, the demand for coal is changing unevenly. In a number of developed economies its use is declining, while in rapidly developing countries, where energy consumption continues to grow, it is still increasing. Vietnam showed the largest growth at 9.3%, followed by Indonesia at 9.0%. Turkey also showed significant growth (7.1%), and in India consumption increased by 3.7%.
Despite the decline in coal use in most Western countries, it continues to grow in a number of developing economies, highlighting the uneven nature of the global ‘energy transition’.
