As the world’s only crowd-sourced report on renewable energy, the Renewables 2023 Global Status Report (GSR) is in a class of its own. It covers policies, markets, and much more, while telling the most up-to-date global story on renewable energy. This year’s edition (18th) has evolved in design and structure to reflect the fundamental changes in the global energy landscape.

Key Headlines
Global Overview
• The ongoing energy crisis, exacerbated by the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, has exposed the vulnerability of fossil fuels, bringing more attention to renewable energy as a stable and cheaper energy source.
• The number of people without access to electricity increased in 2022 for the first time in decades, due mainly to high energy prices.
• Although deployment of renewable energy is showing steady growth, they accounted only for 12.6% of total final energy consumption in 2021, while fossil fuels remained at 78.9% and nuclear and traditional biomass at 8.5%.
• National governments are increasingly recognising the economic and social benefits of renewables.
• Investment in energy systems and electrification, underpinned by strong policy frameworks, are necessary to further increase renewable energy deployment.
Demand Modules
• The use of renewable energy as a reliable and affordable energy source is growing, and end-use sectors are increasing their uptake of renewables.
• Renewable energy shares increased in all four key demand sectors in 2020, to reach 16.8% of energy consumption in industry, 15.5% each in the buildings and agriculture sectors, and 4.1% in transport. The uptake of renewables is underpinned by policies, such as the European Commission's REPowerEU plan and the US Inflation Reduction Act.
• Electrification allows for higher integration of renewables, although this share varies by sector.
• Electrification and decarbonisation of the transport sector are necessary, as the sector has the lowest share of electrification (1.4%) while being the fastest growing energyconsuming sector (2% per year).
Supply Module
• Renewable energy has shown record growth, although this has occurred mainly for a few key technologies and geographies.
• Growth in renewables is most noticeable in the power sector, where renewable energy accounted for 30% of total generation in 2022; meanwhile, critical energy carriers such as renewable heat and renewable-based fuels remain neglected.
• Policy incentives have been concentrated on the power sector (as many as 174 national and sub-national jurisdictions had targets for renewable power shares as of 2022).
More attention is needed in heat and fuel.
• Solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind power dominate annual additions of renewable power, together contributing 92% in 2022.

Regional Facts
Africa
• Africa is experiencing significant growth in renewable energy installations, but related investment in the region remains low due to the higher cost for debt and equity.
• Access to electricity remains a significant challenge in many parts of Africa. A key solution in the region is distributed renewable energy, with record growth in solar PV and off-grid capacity.
Asia
• The share of renewables in Asia’s electricity mix grew 10% in the decade from 2012 to 2022, from 17% to 27%, due mainly to an increase in solar and wind power.
• China’s overall investment in renewables increased sharply in 2022, rising 56.2% to reach USD 274.4 billion, or 55% of the global total.
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Fact sheet: EN