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01 / June / 2026 · Multilateral · Energy measurement

IEA: data-centre electricity demand grew 17% in 2025

The IEA’s Key Questions on Energy and AI executive summary reports 17% growth in data-centre electricity demand in 2025 and 50% growth for AI-focused centres, with a central projection near 950 TWh by 2030.

What the record establishes

Finding

Global data-centre electricity demand grew by 17% in 2025; AI-focused data centres grew 50%.

Underlying policy record

2026-06-01 · Update

IEA publishes Key Questions on Energy and AI

The report supplies measurement for energy and AI infrastructure debates rather than a legal rule.

Compute & energy

Should AI data centres face growth controls?

Electricity, water, local consent and national competitiveness are turning compute infrastructure into a policy fight.

guidance · Published

IEA Key Questions on Energy and AI

IEA analytical report updating data-centre electricity demand growth for 2025 and projections to 2030.

Evidence

Primary record
Direct sourceOpen evidence record

IEA reports data-centre electricity demand grew 17% in 2025

The IEA executive summary states global data-centre electricity demand grew 17% in 2025 and AI-focused centres grew 50%.

The global electricity demand of data centres – the critical infrastructure for training and running AI models – grew by 17% in 2025, in line with IEA projections. Electricity consumption from AI-focused data centres grew even faster, surging 50% in 2025.
International Energy Agency · IEA Key Questions on Energy and AI · Executive summary
Direct sourceOpen evidence record

IEA projects data-centre electricity near 950 TWh by 2030

The IEA central projection roughly doubles data-centre electricity from 485 TWh in 2025 to 950 TWh in 2030.

Our updated projections see electricity consumption from data centres roughly doubling from 485 TWh in 2025 to 950 TWh in 2030, accounting for around 3% of global electricity demand by that date.
International Energy Agency · IEA Key Questions on Energy and AI · Executive summary

Coverage comparison

Source mix for this record
Source-type coverage for this recordShare by source type for this intelligence record. Empty groups stay visible.
Coverage gap

National grid-operator series can diverge from IEA global totals; measurement definitions differ across those coverage tracks.

Method

Coverage is grouped by source type and compared with the primary policy record. Missing source groups remain visible rather than being filled by assumption.