Asia’s energy system is still dominated by coal, with gas playing a smaller role than in other parts of the world, but consumption is growing rapidly and will account for most global growth in the rest of the decade.
Gas accounted for 12% of the region’s primary energy consumption compared with 34% in the rest of the world in 2023, according to the Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy. But regional consumption has increased at a compound annual rate of 4.9% compared with 1.6% in the rest of the world over the last two decades, increasing the region’s importance to the industry.
Asia accounted for about 40% of the global increase in consumption over the last 20 years, and its share increased to 23% in 2023 from 14% in 2003, making it the most important growth market for exporters.
The fastest growth has come from China, where gas has replaced coal in heating systems in urban areas, under government plans to reduce air pollution, and plays an increasingly important role in petrochemicals.
China’s consumption has increased at an extraordinary compound annual rate of 13% for two decades as hundreds of millions of households and small businesses have been connected to new urban distribution systems. China had connected 471 million urban residents to the gas network in 2023 up from 238 million in 2013 and fewer than 50 million in 2003, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ China Statistical Yearbook.