A Statista chart built on International Energy Agency estimates compares the electricity consumption of data centers with the total demand of selected countries, measured in terawatt-hours.

Global electricity consumption stood at roughly 27,000 TWh in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration. China led with 8,540 TWh, and the United States followed with 4,128 TWh, well ahead of most other economies.

The median estimate for data centers, AI-related services and cryptocurrency mining was 415 TWh in 2022. That figure already exceeded the electricity demand of the United Kingdom and matched the consumption of France.

The IEA projected that this combined load could reach anywhere from 620 TWh to 1,050 TWh in 2026. The agency framed the increase as equal to adding at least one Sweden and at most one Germany to global electricity demand. At the median of that range, data centers and associated industries would rival Japan, which had the fifth-highest national electricity demand in the world in 2022.

The chart also points to the share held by the largest technology companies. A United Nations Digital Economy Report estimated that data centers run by the GAMAM group of companies consumed more than 90 TWh, above the national totals of Finland, Belgium, Chile and Switzerland.

Company emissions data reflects the same trend. Alphabet reported that its CO2 emissions, driven largely by data center activity, rose 48 percent compared with 2019. Microsoft reported a 30 percent increase in emissions compared with 2020 as it expanded AI services across its products.

Efficiency gains continue across the sector, and some countries such as Germany require data centers by law to improve efficiency.

Source: Statista - https://www.statista.com/chart/32689/estimated-electricity-consumption-of-data-centers-compared-to-selected-countries/