China electricity use rises 3.9% in first nine months
China’s National Energy Administration reported on 21 October that electricity consumption reached 8,073.4 billion kilowatt-hours in January–September 2026, up 3.9% year on year.
Event / data period: 2026-10-21
Published: · Updated:
High-tech and equipment manufacturing electricity use rose 8.7% in the first nine months, while charging services increased 55.4% and internet data services 41.6%, the agency reported. These figures are sectoral electricity consumption, not output or revenue. September total consumption was 899.7 billion kWh, up 1.2% year on year. Residential use fell 6.0%; the National Energy Administration attributed this partly to lower cooling demand in high-load central, eastern and southern regions during typhoon-related cooler weather.
Data
China electricity use rises 3.9% in first nine months
| Total consumption, January–September 2026 | 3.9 |
| High-tech and equipment manufacturing, January–September 2026 | 8.7 |
| Charging and battery-swapping services, January–September 2026 | 55.4 |
| Internet data services, January–September 2026 | 41.6 |
| Total consumption, September 2026 only | 1.2 |
| Residential consumption, September 2026 only | -6 |
Methodology
Consumption changes from the same period a year earlier, in percent. January–September is cumulative; September alone is separate. These are not output or revenue. Source energy levels in 100 million kWh are explicitly scaled to billion kWh in the text.
Updated:
Subjects and places
Subject proposals
- Energy and resourceSuggested
- Preserved editorial category/topic; broad candidate onlywww.nea.gov.cn ↗
- ElectricitySuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: electricitywww.nea.gov.cn ↗
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- China · Place role: Coverage · Place type: Country or area · Location precision: RegionalEvidence
- Explicit preserved editorial country/region; no city or national centroid inferredwww.nea.gov.cn ↗