A deep dive into the latest UK electricity consumption stats - how much energy we use, how that’s changing over time, what’s driving those changes, how we compare internationally, and what it means for homes adopting renewables.
- How Much Electricity Does the UK Use in 2025?
- Has Electricity Consumption Changed Much Over the Years?
- What Are the Drivers and Constraints of Electrification in the UK?
- How Does the UK Compare to the Rest of the World?
- Forecasts for Electricity Consumption in the UK
- What Increasing Electrification Means for Homes and the Grid
More and more of the UK is becoming electrified – take rising numbers of EV chargers and heat pumps for example.
The worry then is that as we integrate more electrification into our lives, demand for electricity could surge past what the grid is capable of providing. And there’s concern that more electricity being consumed could lead to higher energy bills for everyone.
Additionally, as we adopt more renewable energy sources, the question is whether they can meet the growing demand for electricity. Intermittency is a problem with renewables after all.
In this article, we’ve covered how much electricity the UK currently uses, how it’s changed over the years, how the UK compares to the world, and what the future of electricity consumption looks like. We’ve also included what electrification means for UK households and the grid.
Wondering how you can stay ahead of the potential demands of growing electrification? By generating your own electricity with solar panels of course! We’re MCS-certified solar panel installers, so if you want to make the switch, simply answer a few simple questions, get your fixed price and arrange your free design. Store more of the electricity you generate with a storage battery as well, which we also install.
🔑 Key Points:
UK households actually use less electricity than they did nearly two decades ago.
EVs and heat pumps could add 90 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030.
The UK’s grid needs to upgrade rapidly to meet the increasing electrification and greater adoption of renewable energy sources.
Switching to solar power could help homes mitigate potential energy bill rises as electricity demand grows.
The UK uses less electricity per capita than the EU and the US.
How Much Electricity Does the UK Use in 2025?
The UK's total electricity consumption is around 280 TWh annually, based on the latest 2024 figures.
This is slightly higher than the 227 TWh in 2023, but as we’ll explain further down, is actually lower than what we were consuming a couple decades ago.
Per person, electricity consumption is around 4.07 megawatt hours (MWh), or around 11.1 kilowatt hours (kWh) each day.
Per household, it’s around 2.7 MWh. The reason households are lower is because we consider all electricity usage in and outside of the home when considering per capita statistics.
Understandably, consumption changes depending on the time of year. When we’re all shivering in winter trying to stay warm, we’re spending more time indoors and using more electricity. A lot more in fact:
Electricity usage in winter peaks at 941 kWh daily per household
It’s 741 kWh in summer (though as summers get hotter, we could see this change as more households adopt air conditioning).
Looking at which sector uses the most electricity, residential takes the crown with 34% (about 95 TWh in 2024), though industry isn’t far behind at 32% (90 TWh).
Services consumed 28% of electricity (just under 78 TWh) and transport a measly 4% (11 TWh, primarily from EVs). Transport will almost certainly take up a greater percentage in the years to come as more people adopt EVs.
If you look at generation, we’re actually generating more than we’re consuming (this is good!) – output hit 285 TWh in 2024, so we’re just over the 280 TWh consumed. And it’s great news for renewable generation too; they made up a record 50.4% of the UK’s electricity generation in 2024. We’ve made a little pie chart visualising that below:
Wind – 29.2% (83.3 TWh)
Solar – 4.9%
Hydro/biomass – 9%
Gas – 26%
Nuclear – 14%
Imports – 14%
Coal – 1%
Read more:
Has Electricity Consumption Changed Much Over the Years?
Electricity consumption in the UK has continued to fall since 2000 – from 325 TWh at the start of the millennium to 280 TWh in 2024, according to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
This is partly down to how much more efficient UK households have become. Small steps such as switching to LED bulbs have helped UK homes go from 4,662 kWh annually in 2007 to 3,449 kWh today.
Also, people have become much more aware of their energy usage, thanks to tools such as smart meters and a greater awareness of our environmental impact.
However, data centres (used to power artificial intelligence) and the greater adoption of EVs has nudged consumption up for the first time in 19 years. Yes it’s just by 1%, but this’ll likely grow when statistics for 2025 are released.
Also, most experts expect the increased electrification to add a further 100 TWh to the UK’s electricity consumption by 2030, all but reversing the downward trend.
Read more:
What Are the Drivers and Constraints of Electrification in the UK?
The electrification of our lives is the main driver behind the expected increase in electricity consumption. Particularly EVs – 10 million EVs could consume 50 TWh by 2030, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC).
This’ll make up roughly 18% of all electricity used in the UK and will put a strain on the grid (potentially leading to blackouts) unless upgrades are made.
If the UK government meets their targets for installing heat pumps (boosted by initiatives such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme), some 6 million units could be adding a further 40 TWh onto the UK’s electricity consumption. And, data centres will be even more widespread and potentially drinking some 10 TWh of electricity per year.
An ageing, inefficient grid is the main constraint of the UK’s electrification, and vast investment is needed to break the bottlenecks currently holding renewables back.
In 2024, 10% of wind power was restricted because the grid simply couldn’t handle it. This was enough energy to power two million UK households.
Renewable intermittency is a blocker too, and the solution is equally expensive – the UK needs to add at least 20GW of battery storage, on top of the existing 5.6GW of short duration energy storage capacity.
This is according to the UK government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and it’s expected to cost around £10bn to achieve.
Additionally just 40% of the UK’s substations are ‘smart ready’ (smart meaning it has the capability to manage the unique ebbs and flows of electricity generated by renewable sources).
The more experimental side of growing electrification is in energy storage. Cutting-edge hydrogen backup for example, will use the clean fuel to replace diesel-powered backup generators that kick in when needed.
Switching from diesel to hydrogen-powered backup generators would remove hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2e each year.
How Does the UK Compare to the Rest of the World?
At 4.07 MWh per capita, the UK ranks 32nd out of European countries for electricity consumption. Globally, the UK is 54th, well below nations such as the United States (12.5 MWh) and Norway (23.5 MWh).
This is partly down to the fact UK homes are pretty efficient, using around 30% less electricity than homes in the US for example.
Our milder climate means less energy is needed for heating, and conversely for cooling during the summer heat. That being said, summers in the UK are getting warmer and the need for air conditioning is growing, so the per capita electricity consumption will likely increase in the coming decades.
The UK’s electrification growth forecast is only around 1%, compared to the EU’s 2.3%, so the gap between UK and Europe will likely increase over the next few years.
The table below shows a comparison of the UK with the EU, the US, and China and is based on the latest data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Metric | UK | EU AVG | US | CHINA |
Per Capita Electricity (MWh) | 4.07 | 5.8 | 12.0 | 5.5 |
Residential Share (%) | 34 | 28 | 38 | 15 |
Low-Carbon Energy Generation (%) | 68.7 | 60 | 20 | 30 |
Forecasts for Electricity Consumption in the UK
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) predicts that the UK’s electricity consumption will increase from 280 TWh in 2024, to 333 TWh by 2030. This’ll skyrocket to 562 TWh by 2040, and 692 TWh by 2050 – well over double today’s levels.
This is assuming high electrification, but even more conservative estimates put the expected demand for energy well above what we currently use.
The CCC’s prediction also factors in the grid accommodating more renewables than it currently does (and importantly, having a grid capable of including more renewable energy sources). Ideally, 80% of the UK’s electrical needs in 2040 will be met by renewables, rising to 90% by 2050.
Technology breakthroughs, such as grid-scale solid-state batteries could help lower electricity consumption, as would improvements in efficiency for appliances and EVs.
You might think your LED bulbs do little in the grand scheme of things, but scale it up to a whole nation and it makes a huge difference!
What Increasing Electrification Means for Homes and the Grid
For UK homeowners, increasing demand for electricity unfortunately means higher energy bills. The best way to offset this is to think about investing in solar panels, and if you want to save the energy your panels generate, consider battery storage too.
Solar panel costs mean you’ll pay several thousand pounds upfront, but you’ll immediately see reductions in your monthly energy bills.
Annually, solar panels can save the average UK household £400–£600/year, and you could make £80-£170 a year with the Smart Export Guarantee (which lets you sell excess electricity generated by your solar panels).
See for yourself: Use our Solar Energy Calculator to estimate savings based on your location and usage.
For the grid, the UK’s march to electrification means grid operators face spending billions of pounds on upgrades.
NESO reckons it’ll be around £60bn to increase renewable energy infrastructure and build energy storage to help with intermittency. The plus side to all this is the fact clean energy investment will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
If you want to make an impact in helping the UK’s transition to electrification, while lowering your energy bills in the process, here are a few steps you can take:
Get a smart meter: Smart meters on their own won’t save you money, but they’ll highlight your energy usage and give you the information to adjust habits. Trust us when we say it’s quite satisfying seeing your change in habits pay off in real time!
Switch to more efficient appliances: Old appliances are much less efficient and require a lot more electricity to run. If you can, switch to new, more efficient appliances and you’ll start to see energy bill savings in no time.
Only boil the water you need: When making a cup of tea, don’t fill the whole kettle up. Boil only what you’ll need and you can save around £10 a year in the UK.
Have fewer, colder clothes washes: Washing fewer batches of clothes at 30°C can save up to £27 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust (EST).
Replace old lightbulbs: Swap your old lightbulbs for new LED bulbs and you can save around £45 a year. Not all LED bulbs emit harsh white light these days either, and you can easily find bulbs with a warmer, orange hue just like the old lightbulbs.
Conclusion
Electricity consumption has increased for the first time in nearly two decades, and as the UK adopts more EVs and electric heating, this is only set to rise. So to meet the growing challenges of increasing electrification, the UK will have to invest heavily in improving the grid.
Effective government policy, improvements in technology, and consumer choices can all have massively positive impacts on this transition to greater electrification.
The good news is we’ve already made great strides in improving household efficiency (proven by just how much less electricity UK households consume these days). And, the more homes adopting green technology such as solar panels and battery storage, the better the future of electrification in the UK looks.
We’re MCS-certified solar panel installers, so if you’re keen to adopt solar power and protect yourself from rising energy bills, simply answer a few simple questions, get your fixed price and arrange your free design. We also install battery storage, so you can keep more of the electricity your panels generate.
