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EnergyEvidence

Did higher-income selected economies also use more electricity per person?

Across 20 selected economies with both values in 2023, the Pearson association is 0.88.

This is descriptive, not a causal estimate.

Income and electricity use per person

Data date
2026-09-16
Source class
Official international statistics
Data points
20
Sources
3
Value basis
20 actual

Largest caveat: The selected-country sample, indicator definitions and omitted variables can all affect the pattern; no causal direction is claimed.

This page can answer

GDP per capita (current US$) vs Electric power consumption (kWh per capita) · common year 2023 · n=20

It cannot answer

  • The selected-country sample, indicator definitions and omitted variables can all affect the pattern; no causal direction is claimed.
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Chapter 01 · Question answered

Did higher-income selected economies also use more electricity per person?

Income and electricity use per person

Income and electricity use per person

Income and electricity use per person

GDP per capita (current US$) vs Electric power consumption (kWh per capita) · common year 2023 · n=20

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Income and electricity use per person

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SOURCE & PUBLISHERGDP per capita (current US$) — World Development Indicators · Electric power consumption (kWh per capita) — World Development Indicators · Population, total — World Development Indicators
DATESRetrieved 2026-09-16
VALUE BASISActual
METHOD / CALCULATIONDecision supported: Whether two published measures move together across the selected economies in one common year. Required inputs: Two indicator definitions, one common comparison year, a fixed economy set, and optional population for marker area. 1. Align both indicators to one year. 2. Drop only pairs without both values and report the resulting sample. 3. Encode the third measure by marker area, never radius. 4. Label selected points, not every point. 5. Describe association only; do not claim causation. Failure modes: Country-level association can be driven by omitted variables. Small selected samples are sensitive to the economy set. Current-US-dollar income is not a purchasing-power measure.
CAVEATThe selected-country sample, indicator definitions and omitted variables can all affect the pattern; no causal direction is claimed.
MISSING DATANot stated

Data table

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Income and electricity use per person — full data table
CountryXYPopulationYearSeriesSourceValue basis
Australia65058.37731466749819.87119092096266599222023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Bangladesh2551.01773827307602.8973856717261714669902023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Brazil10377.58927925572916.486093973842111407292023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Canada54847.537011265214472.3145755529400490882023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
China12951.17823970436523.7192619319314107100002023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Germany54776.76682354915947.27119952649832872732023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Ethiopia1055.81091593061112.5558283902271286916922023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
France44700.13841775446415.02611160317683722862023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
United Kingdom49919.68966215864229.27064180019685260002023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Indonesia4876.29929598431445.214634839862811900672023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
India2434.448263409891181.6312678652914380695962023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Japan35215.0035353667655.016417483121245166502023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Kenya1942.58802756191190.082933008388553390032023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Korea, Rep.35674.09599563211426.0699114852517126192023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Mexico13830.8438488642597.39961440811297397592023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Nigeria2138.76383718757144.135402497982278829452023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Norway90984.408714111123520.178360718555196012023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
Pakistan1360.32417758419518.2976575839562475044952023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
United States82586.784770789412553.13313013043367550522023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual
South Africa6034.272089646733247.14853342661632123842023evidencewdi-ny-gdp-pcap-cd + wdi-eg-use-elec-kh-pc + wdi-sp-pop-totlactual

Methodology & sources

Last updated: Sep 16, 2026

Methodology

Decision supported: Whether two published measures move together across the selected economies in one common year.

Required inputs: Two indicator definitions, one common comparison year, a fixed economy set, and optional population for marker area.

1. Align both indicators to one year.

2. Drop only pairs without both values and report the resulting sample.

3. Encode the third measure by marker area, never radius.

4. Label selected points, not every point.

5. Describe association only; do not claim causation.

Failure modes: Country-level association can be driven by omitted variables. Small selected samples are sensitive to the economy set. Current-US-dollar income is not a purchasing-power measure.

Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.

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