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Data centers worldwide consumed 788 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2025.
The Energy Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy, produced in collaboration with Ember and supported by S&P Global Energy, includes data-center power demand tracking for the first time in the review’s 75-year history.
The numbers behind the surge
Global data-center electricity consumption jumped 19.7% year-over-year, climbing from 658.2 TWh in 2024 to 788 TWh in 2025. Zoom out further and the trajectory looks even more dramatic: consumption has roughly doubled since 2020, when data centers drew 410.8 TWh.
The US sits at the center of this acceleration. American data centers consumed 312.6 TWh in 2025, accounting for 39.7% of the global total. The country also contributed approximately 49% of worldwide growth, adding 63.5 TWh of new demand in a single year.
China came in second at 26.1% of global data-center electricity demand, followed by Europe at 18.4%.
Overall US electricity demand grew by 3% in 2025, matching the global average.
Data centers now represent about 2% of global electricity generation. Forecasts suggest data-center power draw could double again by 2030.
Energy infrastructure implications
The gap between total energy supply growth of 1.7% and electricity demand growth of 3% tells its own story.
The report also highlights electric vehicles alongside data centers as a key driver of electricity demand growth.
Microsoft’s deal to restart a unit at Three Mile Island and Amazon’s investments in nuclear development are early examples of tech companies seeking carbon-free baseload power.
Companies like Hut 8, Core Scientific, and Iris Energy have all announced strategies to allocate portions of their power capacity to AI and high-performance computing workloads.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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