Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity was 258.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 2023. ▼ Falling
Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1990–2023
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour.
Analysis
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland recorded 258.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour for electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of down 7.7% on the previous year and down 44.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland peaked at 611.64 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 1990 and was at its lowest, 258.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour, in 2023.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 19th of 39 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, year by year
| Year | Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 611.64 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | — |
| 1991 | 606.74 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.8% |
| 1992 | 579.15 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -4.5% |
| 1993 | 534.6 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -7.7% |
| 1994 | 521.26 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -2.5% |
| 1995 | 514.86 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -1.2% |
| 1996 | 500.16 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -2.9% |
| 1997 | 467.47 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -6.5% |
| 1998 | 467.1 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.1% |
| 1999 | 455.88 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -2.4% |
| 2000 | 482.01 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +5.7% |
| 2001 | 485.39 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 480.22 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -1.1% |
| 2003 | 492.84 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 495.33 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 494.58 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 511.81 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +3.5% |
| 2007 | 513.69 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 514.9 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 473.26 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -8.1% |
| 2010 | 487.45 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +3.0% |
| 2011 | 468.17 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -4.0% |
| 2012 | 491.42 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +5.0% |
| 2013 | 467.94 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -4.8% |
| 2014 | 437.53 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -6.5% |
| 2015 | 387.61 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -11.4% |
| 2016 | 342.38 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -11.7% |
| 2017 | 316.66 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -7.5% |
| 2018 | 305.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -3.6% |
| 2019 | 293.65 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -3.8% |
| 2020 | 274 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -6.7% |
| 2021 | 299.18 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | +9.2% |
| 2022 | 280.01 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -6.4% |
| 2023 | 258.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | -7.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 525.89 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 455.88 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 611.64 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 10 |
| 2000s | 494.4 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 473.26 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 514.9 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 10 |
| 2010s | 399.81 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 293.65 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 491.42 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 10 |
| 2020s | 277.88 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 258.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 299.18 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour | 4 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- 16 Chile 282.56 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 17 Croatia 265.73 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 18 Romania 265.17 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 20 Colombia 225.28 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 21 Slovenia 204.13 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
- 22 Hungary 201.07 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour compare
More climate change data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Share of global CO₂ emissions and population 0.7% (2100)
- Urban population 83.3% (2025)
- Urban population 57.90 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.4% (2025)
- Population, total 69.49 million (2025)
- Population growth 0.3% (2025)
- Annual Net Emissions/Removals 370.74 (2024)
- Temperature change with respect to a baseline climatology 1.49 (2024)
- Per capita CO₂ emissions vs. per capita energy use 4.53 tonnes per person (2024)
- Share of global cumulative CO₂ emissions including land-use change 2.9% (2024)
All data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland →
Frequently asked questions
- What is electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- Electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was 258.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 2023, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 611.64 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 1990.
- What is the lowest electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 258.34 Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt hour in 2023.
- How does United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland rank for electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity?
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 19th out of 39 countries with data for 2023.
- Is electricity generation - regions — carbon intensity of electricity rising or falling in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 44.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Electricity generation - Regions — Carbon intensity of electricity generation. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
This dataset provides indicators on electricity generation by source of energy in large (TL2) and small (TL3) regions. Data definition and source The electricity generation mix is based on both official subnational statistics and on estimates (see the data sources). The estimates for areas with missing official data are based on the electricity generation mix at the national level (based on the issued from the International Energy Agency (IEA) database, the location of electricity generation assets using the Global Power Plant Database (GPPD, Global Energy Observatory et al., 2018) and the harmonised global dataset on wind and solar installations (Dunnett et al., 2020). Electricity generation is estimated by matching energy sources across datasets, calculating each power plant's share of national capacity, and distributing the official regional and national generation accordingly across the different subnational areas. The carbon intensity of electricity generation is defined as the amount of CO2 equivalent emissions produced per unit of electricity generated (gCO2eq/kWh). It is obtained by applying emission factors to the different energy sources. Definition of regions Regions are subnational units below national boundaries. OECD countries have two regional levels: large regions (territorial level 2 or TL2) and small regions (territorial level 3 or TL3). For more information, see the OECD Territorial grid (pdf) and the OECD Territorial Correspondence Table (xlsx). Cite this dataset OECD Regions, Cities and Local Areas database http://oe.cd/geostats. Further information OECD Local Data Portal OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance For questions and/or comments, please email RegionStat@oecd.org.