Environment & Energy

IEA (2025), World Energy Outlook 2025, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2025, Licence: CC BY 4.0 (report); CC BY NC SA 4.0 (Annex A)

General note to the tables

This annex includes global historical and projected data by scenario for the following five datasets:

• A.1: World energy supply.
• A.2: World total final consumption.
• A.3: World electricity sector: gross electricity generation and electrical capacity.
• A.4: World CO₂ emissions: carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes.
• A.5: World economic and activity indicators: selected economic and activity indicators.

Each dataset is given for the following scenarios: (a) Current Policies Scenario (CPS) [Tables A.1a. to A.5a]; (b) Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS) [Tables A.1b. to A.5b]; and (c) Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario [Tables A.1c. to A.5c].

There is no single storyline about the future of energy, which is why the World Energy Outlook presents multiple scenarios, none of which is a forecast. The framework presented in this Outlook is based on the latest and most comprehensive data on policies, technologies and markets, together with rigorous modelling. This allows readers to explore the implications of different choices and pathways.

Scenarios

The World Energy Outlook 2025 (WEO-2025) has three main scenarios. Two of these set starting conditions and then examine where they lead – the Current Policies Scenario (CPS) and the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS). A third, the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario, maps out a pathway to achieve specific energy and climate-related goals.

• The Current Policies Scenario considers a snapshot of policies and regulations that are already in place and offers a cautious perspective on the speed at which new energy technologies are deployed and integrated into the energy system.


• The Stated Policies Scenario considers the application of a broader range of policies, including those that have been formally put forward but not yet adopted, as well as other official strategy documents that indicate the direction of travel. Barriers to the introduction of new technologies are lower than in the CPS, but the STEPS does not assume that aspirational targets are met.


• The Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario takes a different approach, describing a pathway to reduce global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions to net zero by 2050, while recognising that each country will have its own route.

…

The continued rise of renewable energy

The pace varies, but renewables grow faster than any other major energy source in all scenarios, led by solar photovoltaics (PV). In the CPS, where they face stronger headwinds, renewables still meet the largest share of total energy demand growth, followed by natural gas and oil, even though annual solar PV additions in the power sector stall at around today’s levels of 540 GW to 2035. In the STEPS, policy changes mean that the United States has 30% less renewables capacity installed in 2035 than in last year’s Outlook, but at the global level renewables continue their rapid expansion. A boom in solar deployment is accompanied by robust growth across wind, hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal and other technologies, and by improvements in energy efficiency. China continues to be the largest market for renewables, accounting for 45-60% of global deployment over the next ten years across the scenarios, and remains the largest manufacturer of most renewable technologies.