Asia Drove Global Coal to a Fresh Consumption Record in 2025 Even as Power Generation Declined
Asia Pacific's 138.1 exajoule coal appetite last year accounted for 83.2% of world demand, while coal-fired power generation fell 0.3% globally.
Global coal consumption set a record in 2025, rising 0.7% from 2024 to push total demand to a new high, according to data reported Saturday (2026-07-26). The increase came even as coal-fired power production fell 0.3% to 10,511 terawatt-hours globally — a divergence that points to rising industrial use in Asia absorbing volumes that had once fed generators rather than any broad resurgence of coal power.7
Asia Pacific consumed 138.1 exajoules of coal in 2025, or 83.2% of the global total. China alone accounted for 92.2 exajoules, representing 55.6% of all coal consumed worldwide. India added another 23.1 exajoules, a 13.9% share. Together, the two countries consumed nearly 70% of the world's coal supply.7
But China's power sector data cuts against a simple story of surging coal dependency. Solar generation in China rose 40% in 2025, wind power grew 13%, and the country's total coal consumption remained flat — its first year without growth in a decade, according to Asian Power reporting dated July 2 (2026-07-02). The flat China figure contrasts with the record Asia Pacific aggregate, suggesting India and smaller regional consumers provided the incremental volume that pushed the regional total higher.5,7
Total global energy supply grew 1.4%, from 592.2 exajoules in 2024 to 600.3 exajoules in 2025. Renewable energy supply increased by nearly 10% over the same period, far outpacing coal's 0.7% rise. Coal's share of the global energy mix slipped from 27.9% to 27.7% as a result — a small move, but directionally consistent with its third consecutive year of share erosion.7
The structural shift in Asian power is clearest in the solar data. Carbon Brief analysis published June 12 (2026-06-12) found that solar had overtaken gas to become Asia's third-largest electricity source for the first time. Asia generated 4,589 terawatt-hours of renewable electricity in 2024, up 14.3% from the prior year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency as reported by Asian Power on July 15 (2026-07-15). The pace of capacity additions since mid-2025 makes a reversal of the solar-gas ranking unlikely in the near term.4,6
The demand picture complicates any clean transition narrative. A Bain & Company and Standard Chartered report published May 20 (2026-05-20) projected that Southeast Asian power demand from data centres, electric vehicles and green industrial parks would grow by more than 100 terawatt-hours over the following three to four years — a threefold increase for those sectors alone. More than $200 billion in investment would be required. Over half is expected to flow to data centres, with almost all needing to be operational within narrow commercial timelines.1,2
The grid is not keeping pace. The same May 2026 report estimated an $18 billion annual shortfall in grid investment across Southeast Asia by 2035. Power constraints have already begun redirecting data centre development toward emerging regional markets with lower costs and better power availability, according to reporting published May 26 (2026-05-26).2,3
Southeast Asia's green economy was valued at $290 billion as of the May 2026 report and projected to reach $430 billion by 2030. Of roughly $540 billion in regional green spending identified across power and EV value chains, execution timelines remain the primary constraint — not financing ambition.2
If the $18 billion annual grid gap persists into the late 2020s, load growth from data centres and electrification will test generation mix decisions designed around a cleaner trajectory. Gas peakers or extended coal plant lives could fill gaps that solar deployment and grid buildout fail to close in time. The rate of grid investment approvals in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines over the next twelve months is the specific signal worth monitoring.2