Renewable energy sources now supply more than 30% of total electricity globally, according to the Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2026, the authoritative annual assessment produced jointly by the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization. The report was formally presented during a special launch event at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the United Nations in New York, alongside the SDG 7 Policy Briefs 2026 and the UN-Energy Work Programme for 2026-2030.
Key Takeaways
- Renewables now constitute more than 30% of global electricity consumption, backed by a record installed capacity of 544 watts per person worldwide.
- The IEA’s Global Energy Review 2026 places the global renewable share even higher at 34% of total electricity generation in 2025, up from 32% in 2024 and 23% a decade ago.
- Annual global renewable capacity additions reached a record 800 gigawatts in 2025, with solar contributing 75% of that total.
- Solar PV alone met more than 25% of global electricity demand growth in 2025, the first time a modern renewable source contributed the largest share of demand growth on record.
- Global investment in the energy transition reached a historic record of $2.3 trillion in 2025, yet disparities persist: low-income nations average just 33.6 watts of renewable capacity per person compared to 1,224 watts in high-income countries.
What Does Crossing the 30% Threshold Actually Mean?
The 30% milestone documented in the Tracking SDG 7 report represents renewable energy’s share of total final electricity consumption. The IEA’s parallel Global Energy Review 2026, which uses a slightly different methodology measuring total electricity generation, puts the figure at 34% for 2025. Under either measurement, the trajectory is consistent: a decade ago, renewables accounted for roughly 23% of global electricity generation. The acceleration since then has been driven overwhelmingly by solar PV and wind, whose combined share of global generation reached 17% in 2025, up from approximately 5% ten years prior.
The structural significance of this threshold extends beyond the percentage itself. In 2025, renewable generation virtually matched total global generation from coal for the first time, according to the IEA. Global coal-fired generation fell by around 0.5%, marking the first decrease since the COVID-driven drop in 2020 and the first decline outside of a crisis-related disruption since 2015. Renewables combined with nuclear power now generate more electricity than the total global increase in demand, meaning that fossil fuel generation is being displaced in absolute terms rather than simply growing at a slower rate.
What Is Driving the Acceleration?
Three factors converged to push renewables past the 30% mark: record capacity additions, sustained cost competitiveness, and massive capital deployment.
Annual global renewable capacity additions reached 800 gigawatts in 2025, with solar PV accounting for 75% of that total. The 2025 increase in solar PV generation of 600 terawatt-hours was the largest-ever electricity generation increase by any single source in one year, outside of periods of post-crisis recovery, according to the IEA. Solar PV alone met more than 25% of higher electricity demand globally — the first time on record that a modern renewable source contributed the largest share of global energy demand growth.
IRENA’s cost data reinforces the economic logic behind the build-out. Renewable power generation costs have stabilized at levels that make renewables the most cost-competitive source of new electricity in most markets. The levelized cost of electricity from utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind has fallen below the weighted average cost of fossil fuel generation in 20 countries tracked by IRENA, a dynamic that has shifted procurement decisions from policy-driven incentives toward pure economics.
Global investment in the energy transition reached $2.3 trillion in 2025, a historic record. Battery storage was the fastest-growing power technology: capacity additions rose by approximately 40% to reach almost 110 gigawatts, exceeding the highest-ever annual capacity additions from natural gas. The convergence of cheaper storage with variable renewable generation is addressing the intermittency challenge that historically limited renewables’ grid share.
How Are Different Regions Performing?
The global average obscures significant regional variation. In advanced economies, renewables provided 36% of electricity generation in 2025. In the European Union, the share of solar PV and wind reached 30%, surpassing that of fossil fuels for the first time. The United Kingdom, which closed its last coal-fired power station in 2024, saw renewables grow to 55% of its electricity mix.
China’s coal-fired generation share declined to 55% in 2025, down from 70% a decade ago, driven by rapid renewable and nuclear expansion. Both China and India saw simultaneous declines in coal-fired electricity output for the first time in five decades. India’s coal use declined due to a combination of rapid renewable expansion and an early, strong monsoon season, with renewables posting their largest-ever annual increase.
The United States moved against the broader trend: an uptick in coal-fired generation occurred in 2025, with coal’s share rising to 17% from 16% in 2024 amid higher natural gas prices, strong demand growth from data centers, and slower coal plant retirements. U.S. electricity demand growth rose to its second-highest level since 2000, driven by data center demand, industrial growth, and colder temperatures.
The most significant disparities appear at the development level. Low-income nations average just 33.6 watts of renewable capacity per person, compared to 1,224 watts in high-income countries. The Tracking SDG 7 report noted that 655 million people globally still lack electricity access, with over 560 million of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. International public financial flows to least developed countries dropped to $3.7 billion in 2024, a decline that the report’s custodian agencies flagged as a barrier to closing the access gap.
What Are the Implications for Global Energy Markets?
The deployment of clean energy technologies since 2019 has avoided more than 35 exajoules of annual fossil fuel demand in 2025, equivalent to approximately 7% of global fossil fuel use, according to the IEA. IRENA separately estimated that $480 billion in fossil fuel costs were avoided by the renewable energy expansion in 2025 alone.
Global growth in energy-related CO2 emissions slowed to approximately 0.4% in 2025. China’s emissions fell due to its renewable build-out, and India’s energy-related CO2 emissions were flat for the first time since the 1970s. The CO2 intensity of global electricity has declined 14% over the past decade and is projected to decrease more rapidly through 2030 as low-emission generation continues to expand.
The IEA projects that by 2030, renewables will contribute the highest share of global electricity generation, though coal will remain the single largest individual fuel source. Wind and solar PV are projected to rise from 17% of global generation today to 27% by 2030. Over the 2026-2030 period, renewables, natural gas, and nuclear together are expected to meet all additional global electricity demand.
The crossing of the 30% threshold confirms that the global power sector’s structural composition has permanently shifted, with renewable generation now expanding at a pace that compresses the timeline for fossil fuel displacement from decades to years.
FAQs
What percentage of global electricity comes from renewables? The Tracking SDG 7 report places renewables at more than 30% of global electricity consumption, while the IEA’s Global Energy Review 2026 measures the share at 34% of total electricity generation in 2025.
Which organizations produced the 2026 Energy Progress Report? The Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2026 was jointly produced by the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization.
How much renewable capacity was added in 2025? Annual global renewable capacity additions reached a record 800 gigawatts in 2025, with solar PV contributing 75% of the total.
How much was invested in the global energy transition in 2025? Global investment in the energy transition reached a historic record of $2.3 trillion in 2025.
How many people still lack electricity globally? The report found that 655 million people worldwide still lack electricity access, with over 560 million located in Sub-Saharan Africa.
What is the renewable capacity gap between rich and poor countries? Low-income nations average 33.6 watts of renewable capacity per person, compared to 1,224 watts per person in high-income countries.
How much CO2 has been avoided by renewable deployment? The deployment of clean energy technologies since 2019 has avoided more than 35 exajoules of annual fossil fuel demand in 2025, preventing approximately 3 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
