APAC consumes almost 80% of global energy in 2023: report

It also accounted for nearly half of the world’s demand. 

The Asia Pacific (APAC) consumed 78% of the world’s total energy in 2023, according to the latest edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy.

According to the report by the Energy Institute and co-authors KPMG and Kearney, the region had the highest demand of any region in 2023, consuming 292 exajoule of primary energy, which is 47% of the world’s total demand. 

“Like Europe, it has consistently been a net importer of energy since the 1980s. In 2023, its biggest shortfall was in servicing its demand for oil with production only meeting around 19% of its consumption,” the report read. 

“Its gas position was more positive with production able to meet 74% of its demand. For coal, production in the Asia Pacific region achieved a surplus in 2023, with supply exceeding the region’s demand by 5%,” it added.

Meanwhile, South Asia, which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, along with Africa accounted for less than 10% of the world’s energy demand last year.

The average amount of energy consumed per person in the region was at 30 Gigajoules (GJ). 

“This was in stark contrast to North America, the CIS, and the Middle East, where energy consumption per capita averaged 180 GJ. In North America, the ratio was over twice the global average of 110 GJ,” the report said. 

The same trend was observed in greenhouse gas emissions per person. 

South Asia averaged two metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), below the global average of 6.7 MtCO2e.