Despite rapid growth in energy demand, India's per-person energy consumption is much less compared to that of developed countries
Since the end of the pandemic, many international statistical publications on energy and the mainstream media have highlighted India’s emergence as the only large economy with the fastest energy demand growth till 2050. For some, this signalled India’s rise as an economic superpower, but the reality is more nuanced. In 2023, India’s primary energy consumption, listed as the third largest in the World, was 39.02 exajoules (EJ) behind China (170.74 EJ) and the USA (94.28 EJ). Per person, energy consumption in India is 27.3 gigajoules (GJ) compared to 120 GJ in China and 277.3 GJ in US in 2023. India’s per person energy consumption is close to the average in Southern African countries (excluding South Africa) of 25.5 GJ and well below the world average of 77 GJ. If energy consumption growth were a race, India would count as a determined competitor slowly approaching the finishing line (achieve per person energy consumption of about 100 GJ required for high development index [HDI]) while most other large economies have crossed the finishing line.
According to the statistical review of World Energy 2024, coal supplied 56.3 percent of India’s primary commercial (not including unprocessed biomass) energy followed by oil at 27.1 percent. Solar, wind and other new renewables supplied 6.1 percent of primary commercial energy followed by natural gas at 5.7 percent and hydro at 3.56 percent. The smallest share of primary commercial energy came from nuclear at 1.1 percent. The statistical review does not include unprocessed biomass used as fuel for cooking among poor rural households as part of India’s primary energy supply. India’s energy statistics brought out annually by the Ministry of Statistics & Program implementation also do not include unprocessed biomass as part of the energy supply. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), biomass is the third largest primary source of energy in India accounting for over 21 percent of the supply in 2021.
The statistical review does not include unprocessed biomass used as fuel for cooking among poor rural households as part of India’s primary energy supply.
In 2023, India’s energy consumption grew by over 7.3 percent compared to 5.6 percent in 2022. The revival of economic activity following the end of the pandemic was among many drivers of growth in energy consumption in 2023. Energy consumption grew by 2 percent globally and by 6.5 percent in China, but it declined in most countries and regions of the global north (developed countries). Energy consumption declined by 1.2 percent in the USA while it declined by 2.2 percent in Europe. In 2013-23 energy consumption grew by 4.2 percent in India compared to 0.1 percent in the US and a decline of 2.2 percent in Europe.
India’s coal consumption (for power generation) in 2023 received wide media coverage after the release of the statistical review of world energy in July, which revealed that India’s coal consumption exceeded the combined coal consumption of the US and Europe in 2023. Media emphasis was on India’s coal consumption, but India’s coal consumption appeared large primarily because coal consumption in the US and Europe fell. In 2023, India’s coal consumption (thermal coal) was about 749 million tonnes (MT) compared to about 280 MT in the US and 286 MT in Europe. In 2022, India’s coal consumption was about 685 MT compared to 337 MT in the US and 344 MT in Europe. In 2023, coal consumption in the US fell by over 17 percent and in Europe it fell by over 16 percent, partly because energy consumption is declining in the US and Europe and partly because both regions are replacing coal with cleaner alternatives through policy interventions. In India, coal consumption grew by over 9 percent in 2023 partly because of post-pandemic growth in industrial electricity consumption and partly because of an increase in household electricity consumption driven by exceptionally high summer temperatures. Despite the decline in coal consumption in the USA in 2023, per person coal consumption was more than 50 percent higher than that in India, while per person coal consumption in Europe as a whole was comparable to that of India. Per person coal consumption in China was four times that of India. The message from the data published by the Statistical Review of World Energy that the media should have highlighted is not that India is consuming too much coal but that India’s electricity consumption is increasing as it should improve the quality of life of its people.
Despite the decline in coal consumption in the USA in 2023, per person coal consumption was more than 50 percent higher than that in India, while per person coal consumption in Europe as a whole was comparable to that of India.
Oil consumption of 5.18 million barrels per day in India was the fourth largest after the US, China and Europe. The total oil consumption of the US is close to the combined oil consumption of China and India. The per person oil consumption in the US was more than 15 times that of India and more than twice that of Europe or China in 2023. Oil consumption grew by 4.6 percent in India in 2023 compared to 10.7 percent in China, driven by the post zero COVID-19 revival of the economy. Oil consumption grew by 0.6 percent in the USA in 2023 but it fell by 0.8 percent in Europe. Oil consumption in the US, China and Europe accounted for close to 50 percent of global oil consumption in 2023. India’s oil consumption accounted for 5.4 percent of the global total.
Unlike consumption of other fuels, India is not among the top four consumers of natural gas. In 2023 India consumed 62.6 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas, or just 1.6 percent of total global consumption. The US occupied the top spot in natural gas consumption with a consumption of 886.5 BCM, followed by Europe (463.4 BCM) and Russia (453.4 BCM). India’s gas consumption grew by 7.5 percent in 2023 on account of lower international gas prices compared to exceptionally high price for internationally traded natural gas in 2022, following which India recoded a decline of 6.3 percent in natural gas consumption in 2022.
In India, the most significant development in hydropower was the 15 percent decline in hydropower consumption compared to a growth of 8.9 percent in 2022. The decline was attributed to a decrease in rainfall. India makes it to the top five list in renewables consumption, securing fourth place after China, Europe and the US. China, the US and Europe accounted for close to 60 percent of renewables consumption in 2023. India accounted for about 6.9 percent of global renewables consumption in 2023, demonstrating an annual growth of 18.7 percent.
India’s energy profile differs from the global energy profile in coal and natural gas consumption. If the consumption of unprocessed biomass in India is not included, the share of coal in India’s commercial energy consumption is about 56 percent compared to 26 percent globally, and the share of natural gas in India’s commercial energy basket is just under 6 percent compared to 26 percent globally. Domestic availability of coal that strengthens energy security and affordability explains the divergence in energy profile. The share of most of the other primary energy sources in India’s energy profile is close to the global average: the share of oil in India’s commercial energy basket is 27 percent compared to 31 percent globally; the share of renewables is about 6 percent in India compared to 8 percent globally; the share of hydropower is about 3.5 percent in India compared to 6.3 percent globally; the share of nuclear power is just over 1 percent in India compared to just under 4 percent globally. The dominant narrative on energy consumption overemphasises coal consumption by countries in the Global South and underplays consumption of oil and natural gas by countries in the Global North though all are carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Climate-related health and economic impacts receive disproportionate attention even though the underconsumption of energy in the Global South results in more acute health and economic outcomes. The Global South accounts for 85 percent of the global population and 39 percent of the global GDP. The total energy consumption of the Global South is over 389 EJ compared to 286 EJ of the Global North. It is time that the Global South led by India rewrites the dominant narrative on energy.
Source: Statistical review of world energy 2024 (coal & oil consumption) & world bank (population)
Lydia Powell is a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.
Akhilesh Sati is a Program Manager at the Observer Research Foundation.
Vinod Kumar Tomar is a Assistant Manager at the Observer Research Foundation.
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