Top Countries by Fossil Fuel Consumption in 2023, Exajoules

Key figures

China consumed 140 exajoules of fossil fuels in 2023, the most of any country and almost as much as the 146 exajoules for the rest of the world outside the top 12.
The United States is second with 76 exajoules, followed by India with 35 and Russia with 27.
Japan (15), Saudi Arabia (12), Iran (12) and South Korea (10) complete the countries at 10 exajoules or more.
The United Kingdom is the smallest of the 12 at 5 exajoules.

All figures are from the graphic, which cites the Energy Institute 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy and Business Insider.

Fossil fuel consumption by country in text

Title: Top Countries by Fossil Fuel Consumption, 2023. Legend: Coal (black), Natural Gas (brown), Oil (grey). Unit: Total Consumption (Exajoules), with the note “1 exajoule = 174M barrels of oil equivalent”.

Each country’s bar is stacked with oil at the bottom, natural gas in the middle and coal on top. Only the totals are labelled, so the fuel mix column below is our reading of the colours, not a printed figure.

Rank	Country	Total consumption (exajoules)	Fuel mix (our reading of the bar colours)
1	China	140	mostly coal
2	U.S.	76	mostly oil and natural gas, small coal layer
3	India	35	mostly coal
4	Russia	27	mostly natural gas
5	Japan	15	oil, natural gas and coal
6	Saudi Arabia	12	oil and natural gas, no visible coal
7	Iran	12	mostly natural gas
8	South Korea	10	oil, natural gas and coal
9	Germany	9	oil, natural gas and coal
10	Indonesia	9	mostly coal
11	Canada	9	mostly natural gas and oil
12	U.K.	5	oil and natural gas, very little coal
	Rest of world	146	a mix of oil, natural gas and coal

Footnote: China includes Hong Kong SAR. Source: Energy Institute, 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy, Business Insider.

What the totals add up to

The 13 bars on the chart sum to 505 exajoules (our arithmetic). China’s 140 is about 28% of that, and China and the US together, at 216, are about 43%. Using the chart’s own conversion of 174 million barrels of oil equivalent per exajoule, China’s 140 exajoules equal roughly 24.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent in a year, and the UK’s 5 exajoules about 0.9 billion (our arithmetic).

The bars also show how differently countries meet their demand. On the chart the coal layer dominates for China, India and Indonesia; natural gas is the largest part for Russia and Iran; Saudi Arabia shows oil and gas with no visible coal; and the US bar is mostly oil and gas with a thin coal layer on top. These are readings of the graphic only, since it gives no figures for each fuel.

Notes on this infographic

The chart ranks total consumption, not consumption per person. A reader of a Reddit repost of the chart made the same point, suggesting a per capita measure would compare countries better [3].
Fossil fuels here are coal, natural gas and oil only. The chart does not show nuclear, hydro or other renewables, so it is not a chart of total energy use.
China’s figure includes Hong Kong, as the footnote says.
Our copy is cropped. The version Visual Capitalist posted carries the Elements logo and the address elements.visualcapitalist.com [1].
Data date and source: 2023 data from the Energy Institute’s 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy [2], which has since been updated by later editions.

Questions about fossil fuel consumption by country

Which country consumes the most fossil fuels?

China consumed 140 exajoules of fossil fuels in 2023, the most of any country, according to the Energy Institute's 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy. That is almost as much as the 146 exajoules used by the rest of the world outside the top 12 countries. China's figure includes Hong Kong, and on the chart its consumption is mostly coal.

How much fossil fuel does the US consume?

The United States consumed 76 exajoules of fossil fuels in 2023, the second highest after China. Its bar on the chart is mostly oil and natural gas with a small coal layer. China and the US together used 216 exajoules, about 43% of the 505 exajoules shown on the chart (our arithmetic).

How many barrels of oil are in an exajoule?

One exajoule equals 174 million barrels of oil equivalent, according to the note on the chart. On that basis China's 140 exajoules of fossil fuel consumption in 2023 equal roughly 24.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and the UK's 5 exajoules about 0.9 billion (our arithmetic).

How much fossil fuel does the UK use?

The United Kingdom consumed 5 exajoules of fossil fuels in 2023, the smallest total of the 12 countries on the chart. Its bar is mostly oil and natural gas with very little coal. The chart covers only coal, natural gas and oil, so it does not show nuclear, hydro or other renewables, and it ranks total consumption rather than consumption per person.