Ranked: The World’s Biggest Coal Consumers
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Key Takeaways
- 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.
Coal consumption is highly concentrated among a small number of major economies, with China sitting far ahead of every other country.
This chart ranks the world’s largest coal consumers using data from the Statistical Review of World Energy 2025, highlighting how demand is distributed across major economies.
China’s Outsized Role in Global Coal Use
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.
Below we list the biggest coal consumers based on 2024 data:
| Rank | Country | Exajoules of coal use (2024) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China |
92.2 | 55.8% |
| 2 |  India |
23.0 | 13.9% |
| 3 |  U.S. |
7.9 | 4.8% |
| 4 |  Indonesia |
4.7 | 2.9% |
| 5 |  Japan |
4.5 | 2.7% |
| 6 |  Russia |
3.8 | 2.3% |
| 7 |  South Africa |
3.5 | 2.1% |
| 8 |  South Korea |
2.9 | 1.7% |
| 9 |  Vietnam |
2.5 | 1.5% |
| 10 |  Türkiye |
1.8 | 1.1% |
| 11 |  Germany |
1.6 | 1.0% |
| 12 |  Australia |
1.5 | 0.9% |
| 13 |  Kazakhstan |
1.5 | 0.9% |
| 14 |  Other |
13.8 | 8.4% |
| 15 |  World Total |
165.1 | 100.0% |
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%).
Where Coal Consumption is Still Growing
As countries transition toward cleaner energy, coal demand is moving in different directions. While usage has declined in many advanced economies, it continues to rise in several fast-growing countries where energy demand is still expanding.
The following table shows where coal use grew the most in top coal consumers between 2023 and 2024:
| Country | 2023 (Exajoules) | 2024 (Exajoules) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam |
2.3 | 2.5 | 9.3% |
| Indonesia |
4.3 | 4.7 | 9.0% |
| Türkiye |
1.7 | 1.8 | 7.1% |
| India |
22.1 | 23.0 | 3.7% |
| South Africa |
3.4 | 3.5 | 1.9% |
| China |
90.7 | 92.2 | 1.4% |
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.
While coal use is declining across much of the West, it continues to grow in several emerging economies—highlighting the uneven pace of the global energy transition.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this post had incorrect data. It has now been updated to reflect the most recent data based on the Statistical Review of World Energy published in 2025.
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