Except in Asia and the Middle East, consumptions dropped across the world. In OECD countries, accounting for 53 per cent of the total, electricity demand scaled down by more than 4.5 per cent in both Europe and North America, while it shrank by above seven per cent in Japan.
Here is a look at top electricity consuming countries.
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World's top consumers of electricity
India
Electricity consumption: 568 billion (kWh)
About 65.34 per cent of the electricity consumed in India is generated by thermal power plants, 21.53 per cent by hydroelectric power plants, 2.70 per cent by nuclear power plants and 10.42 per cent by Renewable Energy Sources.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 3,873 billion (kWh)
In 1996, there were 3,195 electric utilities in the United States, of which fewer than a 1,000 were engaged in power generation.
This leaves a large number of mostly smaller utilities engaged only in power distribution.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 3,438 billion (kWh)
China's electric power industry has changed dramatically since the early 1990s to become the world's second-largest electricity consumer, after the United States.
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World's top consumers of electricity
3. Japan
Electricity consumption: 858.5 billion (kWh)
Compared with other nations, electricity in Japan is relatively expensive.
In 2008, the power sources for electric energy were 27 per cent from coal, 26 per cent from gas, 13 per cent from oil, 24 per cent from nuclear power, and eight per cent from hydro power.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 857.6 billion (kWh)
In 2008, electricity as gross production was produced with gas 48 per cent, coal and peat 19 per cent, hydro electricity 16 per cent and nuclear power 16 per cent.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 547.3 billion (kWh)
Germany has defined a phase-out policy of nuclear power by 2022.
The share of nuclear power in generating electricity is falling.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 536.1 billion (kWh)
Canada is the world's second-largest producer of hydroelectricity, which accounted for 58 per cent of all electric generation in 2007.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 447.2 billion (kWh)
The French nuclear power sector is almost entirely owned by the French government and the degree of the government subsidy is difficult to ascertain because of lack of transparencies in the finances of the operation.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 404.3 billion (kWh)
Brazil has the largest electricity market in South America, with a power consumption that is more than double the combined consumption of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 402 billion (kWh)
South Korea placed a heavy emphasis on nuclear power generation.
The country's first nuclear power plant, the Kori Number One located near Pusan, opened in 1977.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 345.8 billion (kWh)
The use of electricity declined 11 per cent in 2009 compared to 2004 and respectively the renewable energy per cent share of total electricity use increased 2.8 per cent.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 315 billion (kWh)
Italy plans to increase renewable electricity to 26 per cent by 2020.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 276.1 billion (kWh)
Spain exported about three per cent of the produced electricity in 2009.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 222 billion (kWh)
In Australia green energy is accredited under the GreenPower scheme whereby all distributors are government audited bi-annually to ensure that customers are getting exactly what is described in their purchased products.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 220.8 billion (kWh)
Taiwan Power Company is a state-owned electric power utility providing electric power to Taiwan and off-shore islands of Republic of China.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 215.1 billion (kWh)
The margin between national demand and available capacity is still low (particularly in peak hours), and power stations are under strain.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 206.7 billion (kWh)
Iran is in a constant battle to use its energy resources more effectively in the face of subsidisation and the need for technological advances in energy exploration and production.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 198.1 billion (kWh)
As of 2005, Turkey had the fifth-highest direct usage and capacity of geothermal energy in the world.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 181.5 billion (kWh)
Energy sector in Mexico has certain limitations in terms of private participation and foreign companies are allowed to operate in the country only through specific service contracts.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 165.1 billion (kWh)
Electricity consumption in Saudi Arabia increased sharply during the 1990-2010 period due to rapid economic development.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 134.6 billion (kWh)
Ukraine has depended on Russia for most energy supplies, especially natural gas.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 134.5 billion (kWh)
Sweden relies on hydro power and nuclear power.
The Swedish use of electricity declined 14 per cent in 2009.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 134.4 billion (kWh)
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is a state enterprise that owns and manages the majority of Thailand's electricity generation capacity, as well as the nation's transmission network.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 129.3 billion (kWh)
In 2009, Poland was world's ninth-largest hard coal producer.
The country is also the second-largest coal consumer in Europe behind Germany.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 128.8 billion (kWh)
The electricity sector in Norway relies predominantly on hydroelectricity.
A significant share of the total electrical production is consumed by national industry.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 124.1 billion (kWh)
The volume of renewable electricity in 2009 was three times the volume of nuclear power.
The majority is produced with fossil fuels.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 119.3 billion (kWh)
Renewable energy potential in Indonesia is high, especially solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 104.1 billion (kWh)
The Egyptian electric power system is almost entirely integrated, with thermal stations in Cairo and Alexandria and generators at Aswan.
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World's top consumers of electricity
Electricity consumption: 99.21 billion (kWh)
The electricity sector in Argentina constitutes the third-largest power market in Latin America.
It relies mostly on thermal generation and hydropower generation.
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