The stories behind the numbers
Renewable electricity in 2024: understanding the 32% share
In Global Energy Review 2025, the IEA reported that renewables supplied about 32% of world electricity generation in 2024. The publication year is 2025; the electricity being described was produced in 2024.
In the IEA’s 2025 review, what share of global electricity generation came from renewables in 2024?
Answer and explanation: 32 %
About 32%, including sources such as hydro, wind and solar, but excluding nuclear. This is electricity generation, not all energy use.
IEA · Global Energy Review 2025Try one question
In the IEA’s 2025 review, what share of global electricity generation came from renewables in 2024?
Reveal the answer
Answer and explanation
32 %
About 32%, including sources such as hydro, wind and solar, but excluding nuclear. This is electricity generation, not all energy use.
What goes into the share?
The numerator is electricity generated from renewable sources, such as hydropower, wind and solar. The denominator is electricity generated from all sources worldwide. Nuclear power is counted separately from renewables. It follows that the remainder cannot simply be labelled coal: it includes several other sources of generation.
Generation is not installed capacity
As a scale illustration, roughly 32 out of every 100 kilowatt-hours generated would come from renewables. This is an annual energy share, not the proportion of power stations or their rated capacity. Capacity describes how much power equipment can supply under specified conditions; generation reflects how much electricity it actually produces over time.
Why the denominator matters
Electricity is only part of the energy system. Fuels used directly in transport or heating do not become renewable electricity just because this share rises. A larger renewable share also does not, on its own, prove that fossil generation fell in absolute terms: total electricity production may change too. Read shares alongside totals before drawing that conclusion.
Keep four labels together: worldwide, 2024, renewable sources, and electricity generation.