Global nuclear energy - statistics & facts
There has been no steady increase in the world's nuclear energy generation over the past two decades. In fact, the share of nuclear power in global electricity generation hit its lowest value since the beginning of the century in 2023. However, nuclear energy capacity has grown by over 20 gigawatts since the 2000s. Only two countries in the world generate most of their electricity from nuclear sources: France and Slovakia, both located in Europe. The other leading actors on the nuclear energy landscape, namely the United States and China, produced less than 20 and five percent of power from nuclear energy, respectively, despite having the largest nuclear energy production capacity in the world.
Nuclear energy is one of the main low-carbon electricity sources in the world, and it was included among the energy sources for a green transition in major economies like the U.S. and the European Union. For this reason, the global nuclear power capacity is expected to continue growing in coming years, especially in Asia, where most of the nuclear reactors under construction and planned as of 2024 were located.
The world's largest nuclear energy producers
As of May 2024, there were 440 nuclear power reactors in operation across 32 countries. Around 20 percent of them were in the United States, the largest nuclear power-generating country in the world, followed by China, France, and Russia. France relies heavily on nuclear energy, but stress corrosion issues in some components of the country's nuclear fleet have resulted in a series of planned outages of nuclear reactors for revision since 2022. The temporary shutdowns were projected to continue until 2025 and contributed to a decrease in the country’s nuclear energy production. Meanwhile, motivated by its low emission rate for electricity production, the share of nuclear energy in the Chinese electricity mix has more than doubled in the past decade. In 2023, China had the largest number of nuclear reactor projects and was expected to become the largest nuclear power producer within 10 years.Nuclear energy policy: a global snapshot
After the 2011 nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, concerns about the safety of nuclear plants regained the spotlight and several world countries producing nuclear power vowed to accelerate the shutdown of existing plants and stop investment in new facilities. The first country to put this plan into practice was Germany, which phased out nuclear energy in early 2023. Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Taiwan planned to emulate this country, but Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden reversed their nuclear policy following the global energy crisis in 2022 and extended the lifetime of their nuclear reactors or planned the construction of new units.Nuclear energy is one of the main low-carbon electricity sources in the world, and it was included among the energy sources for a green transition in major economies like the U.S. and the European Union. For this reason, the global nuclear power capacity is expected to continue growing in coming years, especially in Asia, where most of the nuclear reactors under construction and planned as of 2024 were located.
