China now burns more coal than the rest of the world combined

Global coal consumption has risen sharply since the late 1980s, but the increase is overwhelmingly concentrated in China. The data, covering 1965 to 2025, show worldwide use growing from roughly 16,000 terawatt-hours to more than 45,000. Outside China, coal use has fluctuated within a relatively narrow range - about 15,000 to 22,000 terawatt-hours - and remains close to its level nearly four decades ago. China’s consumption, by contrast, surged, particularly after 2000, and now exceeds the combined use of all other countries.

The central point is that global coal trends cannot be understood without looking closely at China. Because China accounts for more coal use than the rest of the world together, changes in its energy system will have an outsized effect on whether global coal consumption and the emissions it produces rise or fall. The comparison also challenges the impression that coal growth has been a broadly shared global trend: the long-term expansion has come almost entirely from one country, while use elsewhere has been broadly flat.