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About this data

Total energy supply per unit of GDP
Measured in of per international-$ of GDP.
Source
Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026); Bolt and van Zanden – Maddison Project Database 2023 – with major processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
June 30, 2026
Next expected update
June 2027
Date range
1820–2022
Unit
kilowatt-hours per dollar

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy

The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy analyses data on world energy markets from the prior year.

Retrieved on
July 2, 2026
Retrieved from
https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review/
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026).

The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy analyses data on world energy markets from the prior year.

Retrieved on
July 2, 2026
Retrieved from
https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review/
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026).

Smil – Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives

Retrieved on
December 12, 2023
Retrieved from
https://vaclavsmil.com/book/energy-transitions-global-and-national-perspectives-second-expanded-and-updated-edition/
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives, 2nd edition, Appendix A, Vaclav Smil (2017).
Retrieved on
December 12, 2023
Retrieved from
https://vaclavsmil.com/book/energy-transitions-global-and-national-perspectives-second-expanded-and-updated-edition/
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives, 2nd edition, Appendix A, Vaclav Smil (2017).

U.S. Energy Information Administration – International Energy Data

Retrieved on
May 5, 2026
Retrieved from
https://www.eia.gov/opendata/bulkfiles.php
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) - International Energy Data (2026).
Retrieved on
May 5, 2026
Retrieved from
https://www.eia.gov/opendata/bulkfiles.php
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) - International Energy Data (2026).

Bolt and van Zanden – Maddison Project Database

The Maddison Project Database provides information on comparative economic growth and income levels over the very long run. The 2023 version of this database covers 169 countries and the period up to 2022. The new estimates are presented and discussed in Bolt and Van Zanden (2024), "Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy: A new 2023 update", Journal of Economic Surveys, 1–41.

Retrieved on
April 26, 2024
Retrieved from
https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2023
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
    

  • Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2024), "Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy: A new 2023 update", Journal of Economic Surveys, 1–41. DOI: 10.1111/joes.12618.
    • 

  • The Maddison Project Database builds on the efforts of many researchers who have carefully reconstructed historical data on economic growth and population for individual countries. You can find the full list of sources in the original dataset.
    •

The Maddison Project Database provides information on comparative economic growth and income levels over the very long run. The 2023 version of this database covers 169 countries and the period up to 2022. The new estimates are presented and discussed in Bolt and Van Zanden (2024), "Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy: A new 2023 update", Journal of Economic Surveys, 1–41.

Retrieved on
April 26, 2024
Retrieved from
https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2023
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
    

  • Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2024), "Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy: A new 2023 update", Journal of Economic Surveys, 1–41. DOI: 10.1111/joes.12618.
    • 

  • The Maddison Project Database builds on the efforts of many researchers who have carefully reconstructed historical data on economic growth and population for individual countries. You can find the full list of sources in the original dataset.
    •

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline
Notes on our processing step for this indicator
  • The total energy supply is extended to countries not covered by the Statistical Review using the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) total energy consumption. The Statistical Review is prioritized where both sources are available.
  • The World series is extended back to 1800 using Vaclav Smil's historical estimates (2017), for years before the Statistical Review begins (1965). Only commercially-traded energy sources are included (traditional biomass, which Smil reports but the Statistical Review does not, is excluded so the series stays on a single basis with no step at the splice).

Reuse this work

  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
  • All data, visualizations, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Total energy supply per unit of GDP”, part of the following publication: Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado, and Max Roser (2023) - “Energy”. Data adapted from Energy Institute, Smil, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Bolt and van Zanden. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260807-080945/grapher/energy-intensity.html [online resource] (archived on August 7, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

Energy Institute - Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026); Bolt and van Zanden – Maddison Project Database 2023 – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Total energy supply per unit of GDP” [dataset]. Energy Institute, “Statistical Review of World Energy”; Smil, “Energy Transitions: Global and National Perspectives”; U.S. Energy Information Administration, “International Energy Data”; Bolt and van Zanden, “Maddison Project Database 2023” [original data]. Retrieved August 7, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260807-080945/grapher/energy-intensity.html (archived on August 7, 2026).

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