China's power usage hits 10 trillion kWh milestone in 2025

China's annual electricity consumption has surpassed 10 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) for the first time in history, the National Energy Administration (NEA) announced on Saturday, marking a major milestone as the world's largest energy consumer undergoes a massive structural shift toward electrification.

Total power use in 2025 reached 10.4 trillion kWh, a 5 percent increase from the previous year, making China the first nation globally to cross this threshold.

Total consumption is now more than double that of the United States and exceeds the combined annual power usage of the European Union, Russia, India and Japan, according to Xinhua.

The surge in demand is largely driven by China's aggressive push into high-end manufacturing and the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Within the service sector, power consumption in the electric vehicle charging and battery-swap industry surged by 48.8 percent. Meanwhile, the information transmission, software, and IT services sector saw consumption grow by 17.0 percent, reflecting the escalating energy requirements of China's artificial intelligence and data center boom, said the NEA.