- China accounts for 55.8% of global coal consumption, using more than the rest of the world combined.
China and India together make up nearly 70% of global coal demand.
The U.S. ranks third at 4.8%, followed by Indonesia (2.9%) and Japan (2.7%).
Vietnam and Indonesia saw the fastest coal consumption growth from 2023 to 2024.
China consumed 92.2 exajoules of coal in 2024, equal to 55.8% of the global total. This reflects the scale of the country’s industrial base, electricity needs, and continued reliance on coal-fired power, even as it rapidly expands renewable energy capacity.
Together, China and India account for nearly 70% of global coal consumption, underscoring how concentrated demand is between the world’s two most populous countries.
Beyond these two giants, the U.S. ranks third with 4.8% of global consumption, followed by Indonesia (2.9%), Japan (2.7%), and Russia (2.3%).
Vietnam saw the biggest increase at 9.3%, followed closely by Indonesia at 9.0%. Türkiye also posted strong growth at 7.1%, while India’s consumption rose by 3.7%.
Even China, already the world’s largest coal consumer by a wide margin, saw demand rise by 1.4% in 2024.