Global electricity consumption by data centers could exceed 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026, according to International Energy Agency analysis, an amount roughly equivalent to the entire electricity consumption of Japan. The figure marks a steep climb from about 415 terawatt-hours in 2024, when data centers accounted for roughly 1.5% of global electricity use.

The United States carries the largest share of that demand. The IEA projects US data center electricity consumption will rise above 250 terawatt-hours in 2026, and the country accounted for about 45% of global data center electricity use in 2024. The concentration reflects the scale of US cloud and AI infrastructure relative to other regions.

Artificial intelligence is the dominant growth driver. Global data center electricity demand grew 17% in 2025, while consumption from AI-focused facilities surged about 50% over the same period as providers deployed large numbers of power-hungry graphics processors. The gap between overall and AI-specific growth rates shows how quickly AI workloads are reshaping electricity demand.

The trajectory between 2024 and 2026 represents one of the fastest sustained increases in any major category of electricity use. The data points to mounting pressure on power grids in regions with dense data center development, where utilities are planning new generation and transmission capacity to keep pace with computing demand.

Source: IEA - https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-2026/demand