Global coal demand peaks in 2025, set for long-term decline: IEA

Global coal demand has soared to record in 2025, but the demand is expected to drop by 2030 due to growing dominance of renewables in the coming years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The report comes when the world is striving hard to achieve global climate targets, including the Paris Agreement. Despite the global efforts, coal is considered as the biggest source to generate electricity.

The global coal demand is on course to rise by 0.5% in 2025, reaching a record 8.85 billion tonnes, as per report.

According to Keisuke Sadamori, IEA director of Energy Markets and Security, "Looking ahead, we observe that the global coal demand plateaus and will start a very slow and gradual decline through the end of the decade.”

Compared to last year’s report, the recent report shed light on the slightly different outlook. In the United States, the coal consumption rose with policy support and high gas prices.

In 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect coal plants, aiming to boost coal production.

Moreover, the coal demand also witnessed a massive decline in China, the world’s largest coal consumer. As per report, the demand is expected to drop by 2030 as renewables have been gaining grounds in energy transition.

“China... which consumes 30% more coal than the rest of the world put together, is the main driver of global coal trends,” Sadamori said.

However, the growing electricity demand and slow integration of renewables could cause a departure from the forecast, thereby pushing the world away from achieving the climate targets.

“There are many uncertainties affecting the outlook for coal, most notably in China, where developments – from economic growth and policy choices to energy market dynamics and weather – will continue to have an outsize influence on the global picture,” the report says.

India’s coal use also fell for only the third time in five decades due to intense monsoon, which increased hydropower capacity.