Global coal demand hits record high, says IEA

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters): Global coal demand reached a record high in 2025 but is expected to decline by 2030 as renewables, nuclear power and abundant natural gas squeeze its dominance in power generation, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.
Weaning the world off coal is considered vital to achieving global climate targets, but the fossil fuel remains the single biggest fuel to make electricity.
Coal demand is forecast to rise 0.5 per cent in 2025 to a record 8.85 billion metric tons, the IEA's Coal 2025 report showed.
"Looking ahead, we observe that the global coal demand plateaus and will start a very slow and gradual decline through the end of the decade," Keisuke Sadamori, IEA director of Energy Markets and Security, said in a press briefing.
The forecast was little changed from last year's outlook despite observing different trends in 2025.