Per Capita Primary Energy Consumption (MJ/person)
Per capita energy consumption is a key indicator that depicts country's economic development, access to electricity and quality of life
Our global indicators section captures country comparison of this key energy indicator
Per capita energy consumption is measured in various terms, mega or giga joules / person, KWh/person, ton of oil equivalent / person
Table below captures trend in India's per capita energy consumption
For 2023-24, primary energy consumption was 38,478.9 PJ, and mid-year population was 1,395,478.0 thousands or ~1,395.48 million. This translates into per capita energy consumption of 27,574.0 MJ per person
( 1 PJ = 10^9 MJ, and 1 million = 10^6, hence per capita energy consumption = 38.478.9*10^9/(1,395.48*10^6)
27,574 MJ per person is same as 27.57 GJ/person
| Year | Energy Consumption in petajoules | Mid year population (in Thousands) | GDP at 2011-12 prices ( Rs. crore) | Per Capita Energy Consumption (in Megajoules) | Energy Intensity (Megajoules per rupee) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 38478.9 | 1395478.0 | 17650591.0 | 27574.0 | 0.2 |
| 2022-23 | 35430.4 | 1382894.0 | 16164913.0 | 25620.4 | 0.2 |
| 2021-22 | 33017.9 | 1370311.0 | 15021846.0 | 24095.2 | 0.2 |
| 2020-21 | 29806.6 | 1356980.0 | 13694869.0 | 21965.4 | 0.2 |
| 2019-20 | 32548.1 | 1342586.0 | 14534641.0 | 24242.8 | 0.2 |
| 2018-19 | 32711.9 | 1328206.0 | 13992914.0 | 24628.6 | 0.2 |
| 2017-18 | 30965.8 | 1313815.0 | 13144582.0 | 23569.4 | 0.2 |
| 2016-17 | 29712.5 | 1299434.0 | 12308193.0 | 22865.8 | 0.2 |
| 2015-16 | 29063.2 | 1284350.0 | 11369493.0 | 22628.7 | 0.3 |
| 2014-15 | 28453.0 | 1268310.0 | 10527674.0 | 22433.8 | 0.3 |
| 2013-14 | 26822.3 | 1252267.0 | 9801370.0 | 21419.0 | 0.3 |
| 2012-13 | 26249.1 | 1236220.0 | 9213017.0 | 21233.4 | 0.3 |
| 2011-12 | 21869.0 | 1220171.0 | 8736329.0 | 17922.9 | 0.3 |
International organisations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) commonly adopt a conventional average conversion of
1 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) ≈ 41.868 petajoules (PJ), or 41.87 PJ when rounded to two decimal places (equivalent to 10 million kilocalories).
Accordingly, our Primary Energy Conversion Table in the Conversion Factors section presents 41.87 PJ per MTOE, in line with prevailing international practice.
However, India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in its Energy Statistics publications, uses a slightly higher conversion factor:
1 MTOE = 42.789 PJ of energy.
Such differences in conversion factors are not unusual. Energy conversion values can vary modestly across countries and institutions because the calorific content of fuels—particularly crude oil and coal—depends on their origin, quality, and composition. As a result, national statistical agencies may adopt conversion factors that better reflect domestic fuel characteristics.
On this website, we therefore apply:
– 42.789 PJ per MTOE for calculations in the Indian context, and
– 41.87 PJ per MTOE for international comparisons.
Using India’s official conversion of 1 tonne of oil equivalent = 42,789 MJ, India’s per capita primary energy consumption of 27,574 MJ per person in 2023–24 corresponds to approximately 0.64 tonnes of oil equivalent, or about 640 kg of oil equivalent per person.
If instead the international convention of 41.87 PJ per MTOE were applied, the same per capita energy consumption would translate to roughly 0.66 tonnes of oil equivalent, or about 660 kg of oil equivalent per person.
View the trends graphically