TOPSHOT – This aerial view shows coal being loaded onto trucks near a coal mine in Datong, China’s northern Shanxi province on November 2, 2021. (Photo by Noel Celis / AFP) (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Global coal consumption hit a new record in 2025, appearing to contradict earlier narratives about phasing out the world’s most carbon‑intensive fossil fuel.
Nevertheless, that headline figure alone does not capture the full picture.
The latest Statistical Review of World Energy indicates that global coal consumption increased to 166.0 exajoules last year, representing a 0.7% rise over 2024.
In contrast, global electricity generation from coal fell by 0.3% to 10,511 terawatt-hours.
These trends are not mutually exclusive. Coal serves purposes beyond electricity generation, including steelmaking, cement production, and various industrial applications. Moreover, the divergence reflects a shifting geographic landscape: coal use is receding in many developed economies while remaining deeply entrenched in Asia’s industrial sector.
A Record With Important Qualifications
Although coal consumption set an absolute record, it lagged behind overall energy demand growth.
Total global energy supply rose from 592.2 to 600.3 exajoules in 2025, a 1.4% increase. Meanwhile, coal growth was slower, causing its share of the global energy mix to decline from 27.9% to 27.7%. Consequently, even with a record consumption level, coal’s market share contracted slightly.
Such patterns are common during energy transitions. A fuel may increase in absolute terms while faster‑growing alternatives expand their share. Because total energy demand continues to rise, a reduction in market share does not automatically signal a decline in absolute consumption.
Renewables offer a useful comparison: their supply grew by nearly 10% in 2025, far outpacing coal. Nonetheless, the world’s expanding energy demand accommodated simultaneous increases in both renewables and coal.
Coal Is Increasingly an Asian Fuel
The most striking feature of the coal market is its pronounced geographic concentration.
In 2025, the Asia‑Pacific region consumed 138.1 exajoules of coal, representing 83.2% of global consumption. China alone accounted for 92.2 exajoules, or 55.6% of worldwide usage.
India contributed an additional 23.1 exajoules, or 13.9% of global demand. Collectively, China and India represented nearly 70% of worldwide coal use, with Indonesia adding to a combined share of roughly 73%.
Such concentration explains why blanket assertions about a global coal phaseout can be misleading; while coal is retreating in Europe and North America, its future is increasingly shaped by Asia.
Non‑OECD nations accounted for 85.2% of global coal consumption in 2025, with consumption growing at an average annual rate of 1.9% over the past decade. In contrast, OECD countries have been decreasing coal use by about 4.8% per year.
Europe consumed just 4.4% of global coal last year, with the European Union’s share falling to 2.8% after another 3.2% decline.
Consequently, the global total merges two distinct narratives: a long‑term retreat from coal in much of the developed world, and the continued reliance of large, growing Asian economies on coal.
Coal-Fired Power Moved in the Opposite Direction
A notable surprise in the 2025 data is that coal‑fired electricity generation declined despite the record increase in total coal consumption.
China generated 5,756 terawatt-hours of coal‑based electricity in 2025, a 1.1% decrease from 2024. India’s coal generation fell 3.0% to 1,464 terawatt-hours. Given that these two countries account for nearly 69% of global coal‑fired electricity, modest percentage declines translate into substantial global impacts.
Coal generation across the Asia‑Pacific region slipped by 1.2%, while Europe recorded a further 3.4% decrease; the European Union’s coal generation fell 3.6%, representing just 2.6% of global totals.
The divergence between consumption and electricity generation suggests that industrial demand for coal helped sustain the record. Consumption figures encompass industrial uses that electricity‑generation statistics do not capture, and variations in plant efficiency, coal quality, inventories, and measurement can cause the two series to diverge.
Regardless of the precise combination, the outcome is striking: the world consumed a record amount of coal while generating less electricity from it.
The United States Was the Major Exception
The United States deviated sharply from the broader developed‑world trend in 2025.
U.S. coal consumption increased 10.4% to 8.7 exajoules. Coal‑fired electricity generation rose 13.1% to 804 terawatt-hours, and domestic coal production grew 4.4%.
In absolute terms, the increase in U.S. consumption exceeded the net global growth: U.S. demand rose by roughly 0.8 exajoules versus a global increase of about 0.7 exajoules, with declines in several other countries partially offsetting the rise.
Nevertheless, this should not be interpreted as a return to coal’s former dominance in the United States.
U.S. coal consumption remains roughly 62% below its 2005 peak; coal‑fired generation is about 63% below its 2007 high, and production is roughly 54% below its 1998 peak.
Although the 2025 increase was substantial, it occurred within a longer‑term structural decline. The United States still accounted for only 5.3% of global coal consumption and 7.7% of global coal‑fired generation.
Record Use Did Not Produce a Trade Boom
Global coal production remained near record levels at 180.8 exajoules, but it was essentially flat in 2025.
China increased production by 1.7% and supplied 52.4% of the global total. Although its coal consumption was nearly unchanged, imports fell 10.1%, indicating that higher domestic output displaced a significant volume of imports.
This shift contributed to a 3.1% decline in global coal trade, bringing it down to 35.3 exajoules. Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter, saw its exports fall 7.4%; U.S. exports declined 11.5%, and Colombian exports plummeted 21.3%.
Thus, record global consumption did not translate into record international trade, reflecting that a substantial share of coal is produced and consumed domestically, particularly in China and India.
The Big Picture
The 2025 data neither confirm the assertion that coal is disappearing nor substantiate the claim that the energy transition has stalled.
Coal use reached a record level, yet its share of global energy declined; coal‑fired electricity generation fell, but industrial and other uses sustained elevated total consumption. Coal experienced a sharp rebound in the United States, though it remained far below its historical peak, while Europe continued its move away from coal and Asia accounted for more than four‑fifths of global demand.
The coal market is no longer a single, unified global narrative; it is increasingly defined by a widening divide between nations progressively reducing their reliance on coal and those for whom coal remains central to electricity, industry, and economic development.
This division is likely to shape the coal market for many years to come.
