Interactive infographic
How Much Electricity Do AI Data Centers Use?
Move the growth slider to see how data center electricity use could climb from 485 TWh in 2025 toward the IEA's 2030 projection of about 950 TWh.
What this infographic shows
Data centers are one of the fastest-growing users of electricity in the world, and AI is the main reason. In 2024 they used about 415 TWh. In 2025 that rose to about 485 TWh. The International Energy Agency expects the total to roughly double again by 2030.
- Teal bars: IEA estimates for 2024 and 2025.
- Light indigo bars: your projection from 2026 to 2030.
- Amber dashed line: the IEA’s 2030 base case, about 950 TWh.
How to use it
- Move the growth per year slider.
- At about 14.5% a year, the bars meet the IEA’s 2030 projection.
- Try 17%, the 2025 growth rate, or a slower rate to see the range of outcomes.
Why the number is uncertain
Growth depends on how many AI chips are made, how quickly power plants and grid connections can be built, and how efficient chips and cooling become. The IEA’s own scenarios range widely for that reason. Every question you type into an AI chatbot is part of this demand: see how AI chatbots choose the next word.
Frequently asked questions
How much electricity do data centers use?
About 485 TWh worldwide in 2025, according to IEA estimates, up from about 415 TWh in 2024. That was around 1.5% of all electricity used in the world in 2024.
Why does AI use so much electricity?
Training and running large AI models takes huge numbers of specialised chips working at once. Those chips draw a lot of power, and the buildings that hold them also need power for cooling.
How much will data center electricity use grow by 2030?
The IEA's base case projects about 950 TWh in 2030, nearly double the 2025 level. The real figure depends on how fast chips, power plants and grid connections can be built.
What is a terawatt-hour?
One billion kilowatt-hours. A kilowatt-hour is the unit on a home electricity bill, so one TWh is enough to cover a very large number of homes for a year.
Sources
Text version of this infographic
How much electricity do data centers use?
Data centers used about 485 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity worldwide in 2025. Choose a yearly growth rate to see where that leads by 2030.
Growth per year after 2025
Data centers in 2030
Compared with 2025
IEA base case, 2030 About 950 TWh
IEA estimate
Your projection
IEA 2030 base case