China consumes by far the most electricity of any country in the world, with more than 8,000 terawatt-hours equivalent consumed in 2022. The United States ranked as the second-leading electricity consumer that year, with over 4,000 terawatt-hours consumed. India followed, but by a wide margin.
Large population, high consumption?
The world's top three electricity consumers constitute the countries with the largest population. India leads both rankings, while recording less than one fifth of the annual Chinese electricity consumption. Meanwhile, countries like Pakistan or Nigeria, which boasted the fifth- and sixth-largest population worldwide, didn't even rank among the top 20 electricity consumers.
GDP and electricity consumption
Countries with a high GDP per capita like the United States provide their residents greater average purchasing power. Countries with higher-income residents tend to be more urbanized, leading to higher electricity consumption. The U.S. stands among the ten-largest electricity consumers per capita in the world, with Iceland and Norway leading the ranking.
 - Shopify)