Renewable energy (share of final energy use) over time (1990–2021)

Follow renewable energy (share of final energy use) for the world’s countries, year by year, from 1990 to 2021.

• The country ranked first changed over time: Uganda in 1990–1991, Ethiopia in 1992–1993, Uganda in 1994, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1995–2012, Central African Republic in 2013–2014, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2015–2021.
• Japan’s renewable energy (share of final energy use) went from 4.3% in 1990 to 8.8% in 2021 (up 4.5 points).
• Japan ranked #129 of 181 countries in 1990 and #148 of 191 in 2021. The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable. Countries with the same value share the same rank.

Japan and countries at the top, middle and bottom

Key years for Japan and countries at the top, middle and bottom of the 2021 ranking

Country	1990	2000	2010	2021
Democratic Republic of the Congo	92.0%	97.9%	96.8%	96.3%
Finland	24.5%	31.7%	33.4%	50.2%
Canada	22.6%	20.3%	21.4%	23.8%
South Africa	16.6%	16.2%	9.4%	9.7%
Japan	4.3%	3.7%	4.7%	8.8%
Qatar	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.0%
Countries with data	181	188	190	191

Biggest changes, 1990–2021

Compared among the countries that have data in both 1990 and 2021. Countries with a very small starting value are left out, because their ratios look exaggerated.

Biggest increases

Country	1990	2021	Change	Rank
Estonia	3.5%	38.0%	up 34.5 points	#136 → #64
Denmark	7.0%	39.5%	up 32.5 points	#126 → #62
Lithuania	3.1%	33.2%	up 30.1 points	#138 → #75
Bosnia & Herzegovina	7.3%	36.6%	up 29.3 points	#124 → #65
Iceland	54.7%	82.4%	up 27.7 points	#61 → #12

Biggest decreases

Country	1990	2021	Change	Rank
Equatorial Guinea	84.7%	5.2%	down 79.5 points	#25 → #158
Vietnam	75.9%	24.2%	down 51.7 points	#36 → #94
Bangladesh	71.7%	25.0%	down 46.7 points	#42 → #92
El Salvador	67.1%	21.9%	down 45.2 points	#46 → #101
Guyana	55.1%	13.2%	down 41.9 points	#60 → #126

The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable.

All countries in key years

Open the table (countries with data)

Key years for Japan and the leading countries in 2021

Country	1990	2000	2010	2021
Democratic Republic of the Congo	92.0%	97.9%	96.8%	96.3%
Somalia	86.3%	93.3%	93.6%	95.4%
Liberia	89.1%	91.3%	88.6%	93.2%
Gabon	78.3%	72.8%	85.8%	91.3%
Uganda	96.6%	95.3%	93.6%	91.0%
Central African Republic	93.9%	88.9%	93.8%	90.9%
Ethiopia	96.2%	95.5%	94.1%	90.6%
Guinea-Bissau	88.6%	91.2%	87.8%	87.4%
Madagascar	87.2%	82.2%	86.7%	83.6%
Burundi	94.6%	93.2%	93.2%	83.1%
Zambia	83.0%	90.0%	89.2%	83.0%
Iceland	54.7%	60.7%	76.0%	82.4%
Zimbabwe	64.0%	69.5%	81.2%	82.4%
Bhutan	95.9%	91.4%	84.8%	81.8%
Eritrea	–	76.8%	80.9%	80.7%
Nigeria	87.8%	86.0%	86.0%	80.3%
Niger	91.4%	87.6%	80.7%	79.6%
Rwanda	80.1%	86.8%	90.5%	79.4%
Cameroon	81.6%	84.6%	78.7%	79.2%
Tanzania	93.3%	93.6%	89.4%	78.3%
Mozambique	93.0%	93.6%	84.9%	76.9%
Haiti	87.2%	80.8%	79.0%	76.7%
Togo	78.7%	77.1%	65.8%	75.1%
Nepal	95.1%	88.3%	87.3%	73.7%
Republic of the Congo	65.4%	64.9%	54.5%	71.4%
Burkina Faso	86.3%	83.9%	82.1%	71.2%
Mali	87.2%	83.5%	84.0%	71.2%
Malawi	84.0%	82.6%	81.2%	71.1%
Sierra Leone	92.3%	93.3%	84.9%	71.1%
Chad	89.5%	88.7%	79.2%	69.9%
Kenya	76.5%	76.8%	74.0%	67.7%
Guinea	89.5%	85.5%	75.7%	66.8%
Eswatini	62.2%	60.1%	68.5%	65.4%
Myanmar	90.9%	80.2%	84.6%	62.9%
Guatemala	75.0%	62.7%	67.1%	62.1%
Norway	59.2%	60.2%	56.0%	61.4%
Sudan	73.3%	80.4%	61.3%	61.0%
Paraguay	78.5%	70.4%	63.6%	58.8%
Côte d’Ivoire	73.6%	63.7%	75.4%	58.2%
Sweden	34.1%	39.8%	44.7%	57.9%
Uruguay	44.8%	38.7%	53.3%	57.8%
Benin	93.7%	70.3%	47.2%	54.5%
Papua New Guinea	71.7%	66.4%	55.2%	54.5%
Liechtenstein	64.8%	54.0%	52.3%	53.6%
Angola	72.3%	73.8%	53.1%	52.9%
Cambodia	–	81.6%	64.8%	52.4%
Laos	88.4%	81.5%	64.8%	51.5%
Nicaragua	68.8%	58.4%	54.4%	50.4%
Finland	24.5%	31.7%	33.4%	50.2%
Solomon Islands	60.2%	55.3%	45.1%	49.1%
Sri Lanka	78.1%	64.2%	61.9%	48.8%
Gambia	62.0%	62.9%	56.6%	48.6%
Brazil	49.8%	42.7%	46.8%	46.5%
Honduras	70.1%	55.2%	53.6%	45.9%
Latvia	17.6%	35.8%	33.1%	44.0%
Kiribati	64.0%	54.7%	50.1%	42.2%
Albania	25.5%	41.4%	37.0%	41.9%
Pakistan	57.5%	51.0%	47.4%	41.6%
Comoros	74.0%	69.9%	66.0%	41.2%
São Tomé & Príncipe	50.9%	54.7%	38.2%	40.8%
Montenegro	–	–	49.1%	39.6%
Denmark	7.0%	10.7%	21.2%	39.5%
Ghana	80.6%	71.6%	51.9%	39.0%
Estonia	3.5%	19.8%	25.3%	38.0%
Bosnia & Herzegovina	7.3%	19.4%	19.6%	36.6%
Austria	25.2%	26.4%	31.1%	36.0%
Samoa	64.0%	59.7%	41.9%	36.0%
Senegal	55.5%	47.5%	49.5%	35.4%
India	53.0%	46.9%	36.2%	34.9%
Tajikistan	29.6%	62.4%	61.8%	34.9%
Costa Rica	45.4%	33.0%	40.4%	34.2%
Croatia	21.6%	26.8%	29.8%	34.1%
Venezuela	12.0%	15.3%	13.8%	33.7%
Lesotho	52.0%	56.7%	53.0%	33.6%
Lithuania	3.1%	17.2%	21.5%	33.2%
South Sudan	–	–	–	32.4%
Portugal	27.0%	20.1%	27.8%	32.3%
Peru	39.4%	38.6%	32.2%	30.6%
Namibia	–	34.8%	31.2%	30.0%
Colombia	38.1%	27.9%	30.6%	29.7%
Fiji	57.1%	50.1%	28.0%	29.7%
New Zealand	28.0%	26.4%	29.4%	28.9%
Panama	43.0%	27.7%	20.6%	28.0%
Philippines	49.5%	33.9%	32.7%	28.0%
Switzerland	16.8%	18.2%	20.6%	27.7%
Kyrgyzstan	7.9%	35.2%	25.6%	27.6%
Botswana	49.0%	38.5%	29.9%	27.4%
Serbia	14.5%	22.1%	20.5%	27.2%
Belize	38.0%	34.5%	29.4%	26.6%
Djibouti	29.6%	31.4%	32.5%	26.6%
Georgia	12.8%	47.2%	39.1%	25.2%
Bangladesh	71.7%	60.2%	40.3%	25.0%
Vanuatu	27.6%	49.5%	38.1%	24.6%
Chile	34.0%	31.4%	27.0%	24.2%
Vietnam	75.9%	57.7%	34.6%	24.2%
Canada	22.6%	20.3%	21.4%	23.8%
Romania	3.4%	16.4%	24.1%	23.6%
Slovenia	12.3%	18.0%	20.1%	23.4%
Cape Verde	21.1%	27.9%	21.2%	22.6%
Mauritania	47.0%	44.4%	34.0%	22.1%
El Salvador	67.1%	33.5%	32.6%	21.9%
Greece	7.8%	7.8%	11.4%	21.5%
Moldova	1.1%	5.7%	20.0%	21.4%
Cuba	42.9%	34.4%	15.6%	20.9%
Luxembourg	1.7%	6.8%	3.7%	20.5%
Bulgaria	1.8%	8.0%	14.3%	20.4%
Indonesia	59.2%	45.6%	36.0%	20.2%
Afghanistan	23.0%	45.0%	15.2%	20.0%
North Macedonia	2.4%	19.4%	22.3%	19.5%
Spain	10.6%	7.9%	14.4%	19.0%
Thailand	33.5%	21.8%	22.8%	19.0%
Ecuador	24.2%	19.4%	11.8%	18.9%
Andorra	14.1%	14.5%	18.7%	18.4%
Slovakia	2.2%	3.7%	10.3%	17.9%
Germany	2.1%	3.7%	11.6%	17.6%
Italy	3.8%	5.1%	12.8%	17.5%
Czechia	3.6%	5.9%	10.9%	17.2%
France	10.5%	9.3%	11.9%	16.2%
Cyprus	0.5%	3.1%	6.5%	15.6%
Hungary	3.9%	5.2%	13.5%	15.3%
China	33.9%	29.6%	12.3%	15.2%
Poland	2.5%	6.9%	9.5%	15.2%
Dominican Republic	28.0%	19.1%	16.9%	14.8%
North Korea	7.2%	8.7%	11.0%	14.7%
Suriname	–	23.6%	22.1%	14.5%
Guyana	55.1%	30.4%	30.6%	13.2%
Mexico	14.4%	12.2%	9.4%	13.0%
Bolivia	37.0%	29.2%	19.9%	12.8%
Ireland	2.3%	2.0%	5.3%	12.7%
Australia	8.0%	8.4%	8.2%	12.3%
United Kingdom	0.7%	1.0%	3.2%	12.2%
Netherlands	1.2%	1.7%	3.9%	12.2%
Marshall Islands	–	19.6%	13.7%	12.1%
Timor-Leste	–	–	34.8%	12.1%
Türkiye	24.4%	17.3%	14.2%	12.0%
Belgium	1.3%	1.4%	6.2%	11.7%
Tunisia	14.5%	14.2%	12.6%	11.6%
Jordan	2.8%	2.1%	3.0%	11.5%
Morocco	22.4%	15.5%	13.9%	10.9%
United States	4.2%	5.4%	7.4%	10.9%
Jamaica	12.5%	9.3%	8.9%	10.5%
Grenada	8.3%	10.5%	10.8%	10.2%
St. Lucia	43.1%	24.0%	13.2%	9.7%
South Africa	16.6%	16.2%	9.4%	9.7%
Argentina	8.6%	9.8%	8.8%	9.2%
Armenia	2.1%	7.2%	9.4%	9.1%
Ukraine	0.7%	1.2%	2.9%	8.9%
Dominica	14.6%	11.1%	10.3%	8.8%
Japan	4.3%	3.7%	4.7%	8.8%
Malta	0.0%	0.0%	1.2%	8.6%
Mauritius	47.1%	20.4%	12.8%	8.6%
Belarus	0.9%	5.7%	7.3%	8.2%
Malaysia	8.3%	4.4%	2.0%	7.5%
Lebanon	11.3%	4.9%	5.7%	6.8%
Israel	5.8%	6.0%	8.6%	6.2%
Egypt	9.0%	8.3%	5.4%	6.1%
Barbados	17.5%	11.9%	8.2%	5.5%
Equatorial Guinea	84.7%	45.9%	5.7%	5.2%
Tuvalu	0.0%	0.0%	0.4%	5.0%
St. Vincent & Grenadines	15.4%	8.5%	5.1%	5.0%
Yemen	1.8%	0.9%	0.8%	3.7%
South Korea	1.6%	0.7%	1.3%	3.6%
Russia	3.8%	3.5%	3.3%	3.5%
Libya	3.1%	2.0%	2.5%	3.1%
Mongolia	1.9%	5.7%	4.5%	3.0%
Micronesia	–	1.3%	2.0%	2.1%
Kazakhstan	1.4%	2.5%	1.4%	2.0%
Tonga	1.4%	2.5%	1.0%	1.8%
Seychelles	4.2%	1.5%	0.7%	1.7%
St. Kitts & Nevis	39.9%	26.4%	1.0%	1.6%
Nauru	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	1.6%
Maldives	4.5%	2.3%	1.4%	1.4%
Azerbaijan	0.7%	2.1%	4.4%	1.3%
Bahamas	0.0%	0.0%	1.3%	1.1%
Iraq	1.6%	0.4%	1.7%	1.1%
Singapore	0.2%	0.3%	0.5%	1.1%
Syria	2.4%	2.0%	1.4%	1.1%
United Arab Emirates	0.0%	0.1%	0.1%	1.0%
Uzbekistan	1.3%	0.7%	1.3%	1.0%
Antigua & Barbuda	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.9%
Iran	1.2%	0.4%	0.9%	0.9%
Palau	–	0.0%	0.0%	0.9%
Trinidad & Tobago	1.2%	0.8%	0.4%	0.5%
Algeria	0.2%	0.4%	0.3%	0.1%
Kuwait	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%
Oman	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%
Saudi Arabia	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%
Turkmenistan	0.0%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
Bahrain	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Brunei	0.7%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Qatar	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.0%
Countries with data	181	188	190	191