Global data center electricity consumption is projected to roughly double to around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, up from about 415 terawatt-hours in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. That would lift data centers to just under 3% of total global electricity consumption.

The growth rate outpaces the rest of the economy. From 2024 to 2030, data center electricity consumption is set to grow about 15% per year in the IEA's base case, more than four times faster than electricity demand growth across all other sectors combined. Over the past five years, data center electricity use already grew at 12% per year.

Artificial intelligence is the sharpest driver. The global electricity demand of data centers grew 17% in 2025, in line with IEA projections, while consumption from AI-focused data centers surged 50% in the same year. Electricity use in accelerated servers, the hardware that runs AI workloads, is projected to grow 30% annually, against 9% per year for conventional servers.

The near-term trajectory is steep. Data centers consumed around 180 terawatt-hours in 2024 by one IEA measure, and demand is expected to rise by roughly 240 terawatt-hours relative to 2024 levels by the end of the decade. The added load alone approaches the total electricity use of some mid-sized countries.

The figures frame a sector whose energy footprint is expanding faster than the infrastructure built to power it, a gap that increasingly shapes utility planning and grid investment worldwide.

Source: International Energy Agency - https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai/energy-demand-from-ai