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The 10 Countries That Use the Most Electricity per Person |
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Ember tracks electricity use in 215 countries. In 2024 the average person on Earth used 3,800 kilowatt-hours. Iceland, a country of fewer than 400,000 people, used almost 13 times that. The United States did not make the top ten. |
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Source: Ember electricity data (Global Electricity Review 2026, 21 April 2026) via Our World in Data. kWh per person, 2024. Bhutan omitted (data conflict). |
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Most people missed it. But if you go back and listen carefully, there's a pattern
Most people missed it. But if you go back and listen carefully, there's a pattern.
Trump didn't just mention gold once. He's dropped a series of sly hints that, when you line them up, paint a very clear picture.
He promised a "new American Golden Age." Most people took that as a slogan. What if it wasn't?
He warned that to fix the economy "there would be some pain." Most people assumed he meant tariffs. What if he meant something bigger?
His Treasury Secretary went on national television and said the administration plans to "monetize the assets on the balance sheet." The government's single biggest asset? 261 million ounces of gold valued at $42 an ounce on the books. Worth over $1.2 trillion at market prices.
There's legislation in his own party right now to revalue that gold. A Federal Reserve economist published a paper on how to do it. And central banks around the world are hoarding gold like they already know the ending.
One hint is a comment. Two is a coincidence. This many is a plan.
No president since Nixon has talked about gold this openly. And the last time a president acted on gold, FDR in 1934, it created one of the biggest wealth events of the century. Most Americans had no idea until it was too late.
The "pain" he warned about? It's coming for people who aren't positioned. The "Golden Age"? It's coming for people who are.
A free report called "The Great Gold Reset" connects every hint, every statement, every piece of legislation into one clear picture. And shows you how to get on the right side of it in about 15 minutes. No taxes. No penalties.
| What's Surprising |
Iceland makes almost all its electricity from rivers and volcanic heat. More than two-thirds of it goes to three aluminium smelters, run by Alcoa, Rio Tinto and Century. The island ships its power abroad as metal.
Bahrain at #3 is the same story in the desert. One smelter, Alba, used 23.8 terawatt-hours in 2024. That is about 62% of the country’s electricity. Alba generates almost all of it in its own gas plants.
In 2000, Norway used more electricity per person than Iceland. Since then Iceland’s figure is up 79%. Norway’s is down 10%.
| What's Not Surprising |
The rest of the list is either very cold or very hot. Norway, Canada, Finland and Sweden have long winters and heat many homes with electricity.
Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have the opposite problem. Across the Middle East, cooling makes up nearly half of peak electricity demand, according to the IEA.
The United States is 11th, at 12,752 kWh. China is the quiet climber. It used 1,061 kWh per person in 2000. It now uses 7,095, more than Germany or Britain.
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62% Share of Bahrain’s electricity used by a single aluminium smelter in 2024. Alba used 23.8 of the country’s 38.4 terawatt-hours. |
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11 days How long an Icelander takes to use as much electricity as the average Indian uses in a year. |
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+79% The rise in Iceland’s electricity use per person since 2000. Norway was ahead in 2000. It now uses about half as much. |
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11th America’s rank. At 12,752 kWh, Americans use more than three times the world average and still miss the top ten. |
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−31% The fall in Britain’s use per person since 2000. A Briton now uses only about a fifth more than the world average. |
Bad news is good business. Not everyone buys it.
Markets move. Headlines catastrophize. But somewhere inside the noise is the story that matters — the opportunity, not the fear.
The Daily Upside was built by Wall Street insiders to find it — global business and finance, reported without the alarm.
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Ember’s 2025 data covers 91 countries so far. Iceland, Bahrain and the UAE are still to come. America’s number is in: 13,061 kWh, up 2.4%. Norway’s slipped to 24,490. The next big buyer is the data centre, which wants what a smelter wants: cheap, steady power. We’ll be watching. |
