Mongolia
MNGMongolia is second in the world for coal.
Coal supplies 86% of its electricity.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Among the most carbon-heavy electricity anywhere.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
Mongolia buys in more electricity than it sends out.
What this means
The share of the electricity used here that was generated abroad and carried in over high-voltage lines. The higher it climbs, the more this country relies on a neighbour to keep its lights on.
Also true of Mongolia
Mongolia's electricity is dirtier than the world average.
816 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour against a world figure of 458 — 78% above.
Mongolia uses far more electricity per person than countries at its income level.
3,528 kWh a year, against a median of 1,255 across the 18 lower-middle-income countries here.
Mongolia gets next to none of its electricity from hydro, in a region built on it.
41% of grids in Asia draw more than a tenth of their power from hydro.
Mongolia’s neighbours
RussiaCoal overtook nuclear on Russia's grid in 2025.
ChinaChina is first in the world for how much electricity it makes.
North KoreaHydro overtook coal on North Korea's grid in 2020.
South KoreaNuclear overtook gas on South Korea's grid in 2022.
KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan uses far more electricity per person than countries at its income level.
Figures are for 2025, the most recent year reported for Mongolia. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.