Overview

The Global Energy Review is an annual publication by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that provides the most comprehensive available assessment of trends across the entire energy sector for the preceding calendar year. It covers all fuels, all technologies, all regions and major countries, and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

What the series tracks

Each edition of the Global Energy Review covers estimates of energy demand by region and by source and fuel; developments in electricity demand and supply; deployment of selected energy technologies; and estimates of energy-related CO2 emissions. The report also assesses trends in energy intensity and analyses the impact of factors such as weather effects on energy demand and emissions.

The series tracks the following fuel and technology categories: oil, natural gas, coal, electricity demand and supply, electric vehicles, heat pumps, solar PV and wind, nuclear power, battery storage, and CO2 emissions. Data is presented at the global level and for key regions including China, the United States, the European Union, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

The report is published annually and provides the first full assessment of the preceding year’s energy sector trends, drawing on data that becomes available in the months following the reference year.

Methodology

The IEA draws upon a wide range of statistical sources to construct estimates of energy demand and energy-related CO2 emissions. Sources include the latest monthly data submissions to the IEA Energy Data Centre, real-time data from power system operators across the world, statistical releases from national administrations, and recent data from IEA market reports covering coal, electricity, energy efficiency, natural gas, oil and renewables.

Data on technology deployments come from national statistics, industry associations, and commercial data providers. The definitions for regions, fuels and sectors follow those set out in Annex C of the World Energy Outlook. Economic growth rates underlying the analysis are those published by the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Update. All monetary quantities are expressed in USD in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.

The scope of CO2 emissions includes emissions from all uses of fossil fuels for energy purposes, including the combustion of non-renewable waste, as well as emissions from industrial processes such as cement, iron and steel, and chemicals production. Estimates of industrial process emissions draw upon the latest production data for iron and steel, clinker for cement, aluminium and chemicals.

Key Findings and Themes from the 2026 Edition

The 2026 edition covers developments across the energy sector in 2025. Global energy demand grew by 1.3%, a notable slowdown from 2% in 2024, reflecting slightly slower economic growth, lower cooling demand, and faster energy intensity improvements. Solar PV was the largest single source of demand growth — the first time on record that a modern renewable source contributed the largest share of growth in global energy demand.

Global electricity demand grew by around 3%, more than twice the rate of overall energy demand growth, reinforcing the IEA’s characterisation of the current era as the “Age of Electricity”. The buildings sector was the largest contributor to electricity demand growth. In the United States, data centres accounted for around half of total electricity demand growth.

In electricity supply, the increase in generation from renewables and nuclear power exceeded total growth in electricity supply for the year. Solar PV recorded its largest-ever increase in generation, rising by 600 terawatt-hours (TWh). Annual global renewable capacity additions reached a record 800 gigawatts (GW). Battery storage was the fastest growing power technology, with capacity additions rising by around 40% to reach almost 110 GW.

Oil demand growth slowed further, while gas demand growth slowed markedly from 2024 levels. Coal demand grew only modestly, with divergent regional trends: coal use rose in the United States but declined in both China and India simultaneously for the first time in five decades.

Global energy-related CO2 emissions rose by around 0.4%, the slowest rate since 2021, but still reached a new record high. For the first time since the 1990s, emissions grew faster in advanced economies than in emerging market and developing economies. The report also quantifies the displacement effect of clean energy technologies, estimating that deployment of solar PV, wind, nuclear, electric cars and heat pumps since 2019 avoided more than 35 exajoules of annual fossil fuel demand and around 3 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2025.

Relevance and uses for finance professionals

The Global Energy Review serves as a foundational reference for finance professionals operating across energy, infrastructure, utilities, and broader capital markets. Its annual cadence and comprehensive data coverage allow for year-on-year tracking of structural shifts in energy supply and demand.

The series provides detailed statistics on capacity additions, technology deployment rates, and demand growth across all major fuels and regions. These data points are directly relevant to investment analysis in sectors including renewables, oil and gas, utilities, electric vehicles, and battery storage.

The report’s assessment of CO2 emissions trends and the displacement effects of clean energy technologies is relevant to sustainability-focused investors and those assessing transition risk. The analysis of weather effects and structural versus cyclical drivers of demand assists in separating short-term variability from long-term trends in energy markets.

For fixed income and equity analysts, the sectoral and regional breakdowns enable benchmarking of company and portfolio performance against broader market trends. The report’s coverage of technology deployment milestones and policy-linked demand shifts also provides context for regulatory and market risk assessments across the energy transition.