Solar share of electricity — all countries

Solar share of electricity — High-income countries

Solar share of electricity in high-income countries in 2024 — 6.92%. Since 2000, the indicator has risen by 6.91 pp.

2024 6.92% +0.92 pp vs 2023
World rank
Period maximum 6.92%2024
Period minimum 0.01%2000

Trend over time

2000–2024 · % of generation

Solar share of electricity — High-income countries, 2000–2024024682000200320062009201220152018202120242000: 0.01%2001: 0.01%2002: 0.01%2003: 0.02%2004: 0.02%2005: 0.03%2006: 0.04%2007: 0.06%2008: 0.09%2009: 0.16%2010: 0.25%2011: 0.49%2012: 0.73%2013: 0.94%2014: 1.33%2015: 1.62%2016: 1.87%2017: 2.24%2018: 2.53%2019: 2.94%2020: 3.59%2021: 4.14%2022: 5.06%2023: 6%2024: 6.92%
Change over the period: +6.91 pp Annual average: 0.29 pp

Comparison, 2024

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: High-income countries

High-income countries 6.92%
World computed 6.94%
Solar share of electricity — High-income countries, by year High-income countries All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2024 6.92 +0.92 pp
2023 6 +0.94 pp
2022 5.06 +0.92 pp
2021 4.14 +0.54 pp
2020 3.59 +0.66 pp
2019 2.94 +0.4 pp
2018 2.53 +0.3 pp
2017 2.24 +0.37 pp
2016 1.87 +0.25 pp
2015 1.62 +0.29 pp
2014 1.33 +0.39 pp
2013 0.94 +0.22 pp
2012 0.73 +0.24 pp
2011 0.49 +0.23 pp
2010 0.25 +0.09 pp
2009 0.16 +0.07 pp
2008 0.09 +0.04 pp
2007 0.06 +0.01 pp
2006 0.04 +0.01 pp
2005 0.03 +0.01 pp
2004 0.02 +0 pp
2003 0.02 +0 pp
2002 0.01 +0 pp
2001 0.01 +0 pp
2000 0.01

About the indicator

The share of electricity generated by solar plants in a country's total generation. The fastest-growing series in all of energy statistics: where twenty years ago the share was measured in hundredths of a percent, it now runs into tens. The figure depends less on how much sun there is than on policy and prices: the leaders are not the sunniest countries but those that started building earlier. The flip side of that growth is the daily cycle: at noon solar pushes out the other sources, and in the evening it is gone altogether.

Important: The World Bank has no separate series for solar — there it sits inside “other renewables” together with biomass and geothermal. Aggregates for groups of countries are weighted by generation in terawatt-hours and computed from 2000 onward: there is no weight before that.

Source: Yearly Electricity Data (Ember), license CC BY 4.0.