APAC leads electrification as renewables top global energy growth

Electricity demand rose 3% in 2025 with low-carbon sources meeting all demand growth.

Asia-Pacific is at the forefront of the global shift towards electrification as renewables became the largest source of global energy supply growth in 2025 for the first time outside a recession, according to Energy Institute's Statistical Review of World Energy.

The report, published by Ember, said electricity demand grew 3.0% in 2025, outpacing the 1.7% increase in total energy demand, with electricity demand continuing to grow faster than overall energy demand, particularly in Asia.

“For the first time, rising electricity demand was met entirely by low-carbon sources,” the report said.

Renewables added 3.3 exajoules (EJ) of energy supply in 2025, up 10%, surpassing oil, which increased by 2.5 EJ or 1.3%, and gas, which rose by 2.4 EJ or 1.6%.

Solar accounted for 71% of the increase in renewable energy supply after expanding 30% during the year.

"Electricity continues to outpace total energy supply (TES) growth, particularly in Asia," the report said.

The report said the region had driven most of the growth in global fossil fuel consumption over the past decade but remained below the global average on a per capita basis as electrification accelerated.

The report said China was electrifying faster than the US and Europe, with per capita road fuel demand plateauing at one-sixth of US levels and one-third of EU levels.

The report said many of Asia's largest economies, including China, Japan, and India, remained dependent on imported fossil fuels and were exposed to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Amidst rising geopolitical risk, the logic of energy security is increasingly shifting from diversifying fuel supply to reducing dependency altogether," it said.

The report said one-off investments in solar, batteries, and electric vehicles could provide domestic energy for decades, whilst the current energy system requires continuous fuel supplies through global supply chains.

Despite the shift, fossil fuels remained dominant, accounting for 86% of global TES in 2025.

Oil consumption increased 1.3% to 103 million barrels per day, gas demand rose 1.6%, and coal consumption edged up 0.7%.

"The geopolitical fault lines of global energy markets are once again exposed," said Aditya Lolla, Interim Managing Director at Ember.

He said global energy supply growth was increasingly coming from renewables and electricity as efficiency and energy security became stronger drivers than policy mandates.