The Statistical Review of World Energy is an authoritative source of global energy data, providing an objective and comprehensive overview of the sector's developments over the previous year. It is a critical document for policymakers, industry leaders, and environmentalists as it offers insights into production, consumption, trade, and emissions across various energy sources.
In the 2024 edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy (2023 stats), several surprising facts have emerged:
- The United States reached a new zenith in oil production, averaging 12.9 million barrels per day in 2023, surpassing the previous record set in 2019.
- Globally in 2023, consumption of crude oil broke through the 100 million barrels per day level for the first time and coal demand beat the year 2022 record level.
- Despite significant investments to reduce carbon emissions, greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, industrial processes, flaring and methane (in carbon dioxide equivalent terms) increased by 2.1% to exceed the record level set in 2022.
- Global coal production reached its highest-ever level (179 EJ), beating the previous high set the year before. The Asia Pacific region accounted for nearly 80% of global output with activity concentrated in just four countries, Australia, China, India, and Indonesia.
- China is by far the largest consumer of coal (it beat its own record set in 2022 and now accounts for 56% of the world’s total consumption), in 2023 India exceeded the combined consumption of Europe and North America for the first time.
- The share of nuclear remained flat at around 9% with new builds in China and returns to service of plants in France and Japan being offset by the closure of Germany’s remaining plant.
- In 2023 liquid natural gas (LNG) supply grew nearly 2%. The US overtook Qatar as the world’s largest exporter of LNG, seeing its supply increase nearly 10% versus a 2% drop from Qatar.
- Wind achieved a record year for new builds with over 115 GW coming online. Nearly 66% of capacity additions were in China and its total installed capacity is now equal to North America and Europe combined.
- In 2023, Africa provided 75% of the world’s cobalt, a key mineral for lithium batteries. Within this, the Democratic Republic of Congo was responsible for around 96% (or 56% of the global total)
So, in a nutshell, the 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy reveals that despite all our efforts, we’re still breaking records in oil and coal production, and greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise.
The U.S. hit a new high in oil production, and global coal demand is stronger than ever.
Meanwhile, China and India are consuming coal like there’s no tomorrow.
Nuclear energy is stuck in neutral.
Cheers to progress!
To download a copy of the 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy, visit https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review.
