GoKawiilImage: Springwell Solar Farm
Global energy demand growth slowed in 2025 – but electricity use is still surging, and solar just hit a major milestone, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
According to the IEA’s newly released 2026 Global Energy Review, overall energy demand rose 1.3% last year. That’s slightly below the previous decade’s average and well down from 2024. The slowdown was caused by weaker economic growth, milder weather in some regions, and more efficient technologies.
But zoom in on electricity, and it’s a very different story.
Global electricity demand jumped around 3% in 2025 – more than twice as fast as overall energy demand. Even though that growth cooled slightly from 2024 (thanks in part to less extreme heat in places like India and Southeast Asia), it’s still running ahead of the long-term average.
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What’s driving it is a number of factors: more electrification in buildings and industry, rising EV adoption, and growing power demand from data centers.
Solar leads global energy growth for the first time
Solar was the single biggest contributor to global energy supply growth in 2025. It accounted for more than 25% of the increase – the first time a modern renewable has led global primary energy growth.
Natural gas came next at 17%, reflecting its continued role in electricity generation.
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