World Net Electricity Consumption, by Region, 1990-2020

Source: EIA, International Energy Outlook 2000

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• Electricity consumption worldwide increases by 76 percent in the reference case, from 12 trillion kilowatthours in 1997 to 22 trillion kilowatthours in 2020. Long-term growth in electricity consumption is expected to be strongest in the developing countries of Asia and those of Central and South America. Those two regions alone account for 52 percent of the world’s net electricity consumption increment in the IEO2000 reference case. Rapid growth in population and income, along with greater industrialization and more widespread household electrification are responsible for the increase.

• To a large degree, future growth in the world’s electricity generation will depend upon progress made in connecting more of the world’s population to national electricity grids. Electricity demand and investment in the electric power sector infrastructure have responded positively to the recent net improvement in global economic conditions, and to the movement toward privatization in many parts of the world. Many developing countries have been motivated to encourage various forms of private investment to raise the various forms of private investment to raise the capital necessary to meet rapidly growing demand for electricity. In the developing world alone, $142 billion in private capital flowed into electricity projects between 1990 and 1998.