World Energy Investment 2023
About this book
World Energy Investment 2023, published annually by the International Energy Agency (IEA), provides the most comprehensive and authoritative analysis of global energy investment flows, tracking how capital is being allocated across the energy system and whether this allocation is consistent with the requirements of a sustainable energy transition. The 2023 edition, released in May 2023, covers investment data for 2022 and provides projections for 2023. The headline finding of the 2023 report is historic: for the first time, global clean energy investment (approximately $1.74 trillion in 2023) surpassed fossil fuel investment (approximately $1 trillion) by a ratio of nearly 1.7:1 — a landmark shift that would have been unthinkable a decade earlier.
Clean energy investment includes renewable electricity (solar PV, wind, hydro), electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, energy efficiency improvements, energy storage, nuclear power, and low-emissions fuels. The ratio was approximately 1:1 in 2015 (the year of the Paris Agreement) and has grown rapidly since. Solar PV dominates clean energy investment: approximately $380 billion was invested in solar PV in 2022, a 25% increase compared to 2021, with utility-scale and distributed solar installations accelerating across China, the United States, Europe, and emerging markets.
EV investment (including batteries and charging infrastructure) represented approximately $265 billion in 2022. Despite the positive trend in clean energy, fossil fuel investment remains substantial and has grown since 2021 in response to the energy security concerns triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Oil and gas upstream investment reached approximately $530 billion in 2022, a 10% increase, with national oil companies in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia driving expansion.
Coal investment also increased, primarily in China and India. Geographical disparities in clean energy investment are a major concern: approximately 90% of global clean energy investment occurs in advanced economies and China, with all other developing economies receiving the remaining 10% — a share profoundly inadequate given that these regions are where energy demand growth is concentrated. The IEA estimates that clean energy investment in developing economies (excluding China) needs to increase by a factor of 7 by 2030 to meet climate goals.