Global gas power share shrinks to 21.8% as solar dominates growth

Solar alone met 75% of new electricity demand in 2025 whilst gas covered less than 5%.

The share of gas in the global power mix slipped to 21.8% in 2025, down from 23.9% in 2020, marking the fifth consecutive annual decline as solar and wind met the bulk of rising electricity demand, Ember said in a report published on 9 June 2026.

Gas generation grew by 38 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, increasing just 0.6%. By comparison, solar generation rose by 636 TWh—17 times the growth rate of gas—and met around 75% of global electricity demand growth.

Of 124 economies generating electricity from gas, 61 have passed their generation peak, defined as gas-fired output remaining below its historical high for at least five consecutive years.

The Asia-Pacific region mirrors global patterns but remains fragmented. Gas's share of Asia's electricity mix fell to 10.2% in 2025 from 13.9% in 2015, whilst Oceania’s share declined to 15.1% from 18.5% over the same period.

Japan recorded the steepest absolute decline of any economy globally. Gas-fired generation peaked in 2017 at 464 TWh, equivalent to 43% of the country’s electricity mix, and fell to 338 TWh, or 33%, in 2025—a decline of 127 TWh from its peak.

“The decline reflected the restart of some nuclear reactors following the Fukushima disaster in 2011, alongside rapid solar expansion and falling electricity demand,” the report said.

Vietnam posted one of the sharpest declines in gas reliance in the region, with gas generation falling to 6% of the country’s electricity mix in 2025 from 30% in 2015, as coal and renewable generation expanded to meet rising demand.

India’s gas generation peaked earlier, in 2010, at 118 TWh, or 12.6% of the electricity mix. By 2025, it had fallen to 49 TWh, or 2.3%.

Growth in the region came from South Korea, Taiwan, and China.

South Korea added 53 TWh of gas generation between 2015 and 2025, Taiwan added 60 TWh, and China recorded the second-largest increase globally at 167 TWh over the decade.

However, gas remained a small share of China’s electricity mix, rising from 2.9% to 3.2%.

Brazil, China, and India together accounted for 42% of global electricity demand in 2025 and continued to expand their power systems without significant increases in gas generation.

Globally, the US drove the largest share of gas growth, adding 474 TWh between 2015 and 2025, equivalent to just under one-third of total global gas growth over the period. Gas’s share of the US electricity mix rose from 33% to 40% during the same period.

Ember noted that geopolitical disruptions reinforced the decline in gas’s share. “More recently, LNG disruptions linked to the US-Israel war with Iran in 2026 are expected to further accelerate this shift,” it added.

Gas generation has not yet peaked in absolute terms globally, but its growth rate between 2021 and 2025 averaged 1.6% per year, compared with 2.9% between 2016 and 2020.