INTRODUCTION
This page looks at the installed power capacity by country. Installed power capacity reflects both the capacity of a country to provide electricity for homes and businesses.
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Charts
1. Installed Power Capacity by Year 1980 - 2010
2. Installed Power Capacity Per Capita by Year 1980 - 2010
3. Installed Power Capacity by Year 1980 - 2010
4. Installed Power Capacity Per Capita by Year 1980 - 2010
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Data Table
5. Total and Per Capita Installed Power Capacity for Most Populated Countries from 1980 - 2010
As the two largest economies, USA and China have by far the biggest power generating capacity in the world in the most recent year. China's rapid rise in power capacity between 2000 and 2010 correlates with it's overall economic rise in this period. In per capita terms, China is still far behind the developed countries in 2010, especially the USA. Japan and Germany are 2nd and 3rd in per capita terms. This reflects their strong manufacturing sectors. The UK has the lowest of the developed countries shown here. This reflects it's major shift to a service based economy. India has by far the lowest per capita power capacity although it was 5th overall in 2010.
USA and Japan have seen modest growth compared with China. China surpassed Japan between 1990 and 2000 and is on track to surpass the USA after 2010 as it's economy grows and it seeks to provide electricity for it's huge population.
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In per capita terms, China's capacity was less than half of Japan's and less than a third of the USA in 2010 although it's rapidly catching up. Also notable is the fact that Japan's per capita capacity has increased at a higher rate than America's. This is in large part due to it's declining population.
DATA TABLE
5. Total and Per Capita Installed Power Capacity for Most Populated Countries from 1980 - 2010
Country | 1980 Installed capacity (Million KW) | 1980 Population (1000) | 1980 Per Capita (KW) | 1990 Installed capacity (Million KW) | 1990 Population (1000) | 1990 Per Capita (KW) | 2000 Installed capacity (Million KW) | 2000 Populations (1000) | 2000 Per Capita (KW) | 2010 Installed capacity (Million KW) | 2010 Population (1000) | 2010 Per Capita (KW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
China | 66 | 981235 | 0.07 | 138 | 1135185 | 0.12 | 324 | 1262645 | 0.26 | 972 | 1337705 | 0.73 |
India | 34 | 696783.52 | 0.05 | 76 | 870133.48 | 0.09 | 112 | 1053050.91 | 0.11 | 213 | 1230980.69 | 0.17 |
USA | 578 | 227225 | 2.54 | 721 | 249623 | 2.89 | 812 | 282162.41 | 2.88 | 1039 | 309338.42 | 3.36 |
Indonesia | 5.2 | 147490.36 | 0.04 | 13 | 181436.82 | 0.07 | 22 | 211540.43 | 0.1 | 37 | 242524.12 | 0.15 |
Brazil | 32 | 121159.76 | 0.26 | 51 | 149352.14 | 0.34 | 70 | 175287.59 | 0.4 | 114 | 196796.27 | 0.58 |
Pakistan | 3.8 | 78068.14 | 0.05 | 7.7 | 107678.61 | 0.07 | 18 | 138523.29 | 0.13 | 23 | 170560.18 | 0.13 |
Nigeria | 2.5 | 73460.72 | 0.03 | 6 | 95269.99 | 0.06 | 5.9 | 122352.01 | 0.05 | 8.4 | 158578.26 | 0.05 |
Bangladesh | 1 | 81470.86 | 0.01 | 2.5 | 106188.64 | 0.02 | 3.6 | 131581.24 | 0.03 | 5.9 | 152149.1 | 0.04 |
Russia | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A | 148292 | 0 | 204 | 146596.56 | 1.39 | 229 | 142849.45 | 1.6 |
Japan | 143 | 116782 | 1.22 | 198 | 123537 | 1.6 | 256 | 126843 | 2.02 | 286 | 128070 | 2.23 |
Mexico | 17 | 69360.87 | 0.25 | 28 | 85357.87 | 0.33 | 39 | 101719.67 | 0.38 | 60 | 117318.94 | 0.51 |
Philippines | 4.1 | 47396.97 | 0.09 | 6.3 | 61947.35 | 0.1 | 12 | 77991.57 | 0.15 | 17 | 93726.62 | 0.18 |
Vietnam | 1.2 | 54372.51 | 0.02 | 2.2 | 68209.6 | 0.03 | 6.4 | 80285.56 | 0.08 | 18 | 88472.51 | 0.2 |
Ethiopia | 0.2 | 35264.9 | 0.01 | 0.4 | 48086.52 | 0.01 | 0.5 | 66537.33 | 0.01 | 2.1 | 87702.67 | 0.02 |
Egypt | 5 | 44099.14 | 0.11 | 12 | 57412.21 | 0.21 | 17 | 69905.99 | 0.24 | 27 | 84107.61 | 0.32 |
Germany | 103 | 78288.58 | 1.32 | N/A | 79433.03 | 0 | 110 | 82211.51 | 1.34 | 163 | 81776.93 | 1.99 |
Iran | 12 | 38668.22 | 0.31 | 18 | 56226.18 | 0.32 | 32 | 66131.85 | 0.48 | 61 | 74567.51 | 0.82 |
Turkey | 5.1 | 43975.92 | 0.12 | 16 | 53921.7 | 0.3 | 27 | 63240.12 | 0.43 | 50 | 72326.91 | 0.69 |
Thailand | 4.5 | 47385.32 | 0.09 | 10 | 56582.82 | 0.18 | 22 | 62958.02 | 0.35 | 34 | 67208.81 | 0.51 |
France | 63 | 55340.78 | 1.14 | 103 | 58512.81 | 1.76 | 115 | 60912.5 | 1.89 | 124 | 65027.51 | 1.91 |
Congo | 1.7 | 26357.46 | 0.06 | 2.8 | 34614.58 | 0.08 | 2.5 | 47076.39 | 0.05 | 2.5 | 64523.26 | 0.04 |
UK | 74 | 56314.22 | 1.31 | 73 | 57247.59 | 1.28 | 78 | 58892.51 | 1.32 | 93 | 62766.36 | 1.48 |
Italy | 46 | 56433.88 | 0.82 | 56 | 56719.24 | 0.99 | 76 | 56942.11 | 1.33 | 107 | 59277.42 | 1.81 |
South Africa | 21 | 29760.47 | 0.71 | 34 | 37560.53 | 0.91 | 46 | 45728.32 | 1.01 | 44 | 51584.66 | 0.85 |
Tanzania | 0.4 | 18683.16 | 0.02 | 0.5 | 25459.6 | 0.02 | 0.9 | 34178.04 | 0.03 | 1.2 | 46098.59 | 0.03 |