The map above is a world map only showing countries who’s annual average electricity consumption per person is less than that used to perform 1 Bitcoin Transaction (819 KWh according to the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index).

A few quick facts:

66 countries/territories consume less electricity per person per year than that used for a single Bitcoin transaction (819 KWh at the time of writing).

countries/territories consume less electricity per person per year than that used for a single Bitcoin transaction (819 KWh at the time of writing). Over 1.5 billion people (20% of the World’s population) live in these countries which include: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

(20% of the World’s population) live in these countries which include: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Ethiopia. It takes an estimated 94,000 KWh of electricity to mine one Bitcoin, which is almost double the average annual consumption per person in Iceland, which has the world’ highest per capita electricity usage.

to mine one Bitcoin, which is almost double the average annual consumption per person in Iceland, which has the world’ highest per capita electricity usage. Mining one Bitcoin would also be enough to provide electricity for approximately 6 Canadians, 8 Americans, 10 Aussies or 20 Brits for an entire year.

Last year we wrote about how Bitcoin Mining Was Now Consuming More Electricity Than 159 Countries (update here) and The Estimated Electricity Cost Of Mining One Bitcoin By Country.

A lot has changed over the past 12 months.

For starters, Bitcoin is now worth “only” $6,338, far below it’s peak at $19,962 in December of last year.

However, one thing that hasn’t changed is that Bitcoin mining continues to use huge amount of energy, although the rate of increase has more or less stalled due to the lower price.

Based on the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index (criticism of it can be found here), one single transaction now consumes an estimated 819 KWh of electricity, enough to power an average US household for 27 days or for many people around the world more electricity than they’ll use in a single year.

Based on Quandl’s data for September 2018 – there were 1,436 transactions per block and each block generates 12.5 Bitcoins.

This means that mining one Bitcoin coin currently uses an estimated 94,000 KWh of electricity ([1,436 transactions * 819 KWh per transaction] / 12.5 Bitcoins per Block).

To put that in perspective, that is 2X what an average Icelander will consume in a year or 6X an average Canadian, 8X an average American, 10X an average Aussie or 20X an average Brit.

Here’s a map showing Where Annual Average Electricity Consumption Per Person Is Less Than Mining One Bitcoin (Hint it’s every country in the world).

And in case your’re curious here’s a full list of countries by per capita electricity usage.

Country/Territory Average electrical energy (kWh per person per year) Mining One Bitcoin 94,086 Iceland 50,613 Liechtenstein 35,848 Norway 24,006 Kuwait 19,062 Bahrain 18,130 United Arab Emirates 16,195 Qatar 15,055 Canada 14,930 Finland 14,732 Sweden 12,853 United States 12,071 Luxembourg 10,647 Taiwan 10,632 Cayman Islands 10,477 Australia 9,742 Korea, South 9,720 Saudi Arabia 9,658 Guam 9,217 New Zealand 8,939 Brunei 8,625 Bermuda 8,506 Marshall Islands 8,177 Singapore 8,160 Austria 8,006 Macau 7,532 Russia 7,481 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 7,479 Trinidad and Tobago 7,456 Oman 7,450 Japan 7,371 Israel 7,319 New Caledonia 7,263 Belgium 7,099 Switzerland 7,091 Aruba 7,039 Gibraltar 6,819 Germany 6,602 Slovenia 6,572 Andorra 6,565 Estonia 6,515 Curacao 6,495 France 6,448 Jersey 6,425 Netherlands 6,346 Faroe Islands 5,945 Hong Kong 5,859 U.S. Virgin Islands 5,828 Denmark 5,720 Czech Republic 5,636 Puerto Rico 5,310 Slovakia 5,207 Greenland 5,196 Ireland 5,047 Kazakhstan 4,956 Greece 4,919 Bahamas 4,888 Spain 4,818 Malta 4,817 United Kingdom 4,795 Falkland Islands 4,759 Italy 4,692 China 4,475 Montenegro 4,343 Bulgaria 4,338 Portugal 4,245 Malaysia 4,232 Northern Mariana Islands 4,190 Montserrat 4,061 Croatia 3,933 South Africa 3,904 Turks and Caicos Islands 3,888 Saint Kitts and Nevis 3,821 Serbia 3,766 Chile 3,739 Poland 3,686 Lithuania 3,468 Latvia 3,459 Belarus 3,448 Macedonia 3,314 Cook Islands 3,308 Suriname 3,243 Ukraine 3,234 Cyprus 3,234 Seychelles 3,219 Antigua and Barbuda 3,205 Niue 3,126 Barbados 3,087 Uruguay 2,984 British Virgin Islands 2,921 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,848 Bhutan 2,779 World 2,674 Argentina 2,643 Iran 2,632 Turkey 2,578 Lebanon 2,565 Albania 2,564 Venezuela 2,523 Brazil 2,516 Turkmenistan 2,456 French Polynesia 2,453 Nauru 2,424 Thailand 2,404 Romania 2,222 Hungary 2,182 Panama 2,105 Azerbaijan 2,025 Georgia 1,988 Jordan 1,954 Mexico 1,932 Mauritius 1,928 West Bank 1,927 Kyrgyzstan 1,920 Costa Rica 1,888 Mongolia 1,847 American Samoa 1,845 Saint Lucia 1,824 Grenada 1,798 Micronesia, Federated States of 1,705 Botswana 1,674 Armenia 1,671 Uzbekistan 1,628 Kosovo 1,533 Namibia 1,518 Egypt 1,510 Tajikistan 1,440 Dominican Republic 1,427 Libya 1,421 Paraguay 1,413 Cuba 1,400 Korea, North 1,347 Tunisia 1,341 Vietnam 1,312 Ecuador 1,305 Colombia 1,270 Peru 1,268 Moldova 1,226 Dominica 1,223 Algeria 1,216 Gabon 1,207 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 1,193 Belize 1,130 India 1,122 Iraq 1,101 Guyana 1,087 Indonesia 1,058 Swaziland 1,033 Syria 989 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 977 Jamaica 942 El Salvador 925 Philippines 885 Fiji 874 Morocco 861 Bitcoin Transaction 819 Maldives 763 Nicaragua 739 Zambia 709 Bolivia 683 Honduras 595 Guatemala 586 Laos 555 Zimbabwe 549 Cabo Verde 542 Samoa 502 Sri Lanka 494 Djibouti 472 Mozambique 462 Papua New Guinea 441 Tonga 436 Lesotho 409 Pakistan 405 Angola 401 Bangladesh 351 Ghana 341 Sao Tome and Principe 329 Sudan 269 Kiribati 260 Cambodia 256 Cameroon 250 Ivory Coast 244 Mauritania 217 Senegal 209 Vanuatu 201 Myanmar 193 Yemen 189 Congo, Republic of the 185 Kenya 162 Gambia 149 Western Sahara 142 Afghanistan 141 Togo 141 Nepal 134 Nigeria 128 Solomon Islands 124 Equatorial Guinea 120 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 114 Malawi 102 Timor-Leste 99 Tanzania 95 Benin 93 Mali 80 Guinea 74 Uganda 70 Liberia 69 Ethiopia 65 Niger 64 Burkina Faso 61 South Sudan 55 Madagascar 53 Eritrea 51 Comoros 51 Rwanda 38 Haiti 38 Burundi 36 Central African Republic 36 Sierra Leone 33 Somalia 27 Guinea-Bissau 17 Chad 16 Gaza Strip 0.1

Note about data/sources:

There are two important things to note about the data above. First, is that we’ve used the Digiconomist Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, which has it’s critics. We won’t go into them here, but just keep in mind they are providing an educated estimate.

The second is that electricity consumption per capita data comes from Wikipedia. This means most of the data is a couple of years out of date and comes from a variety of sources. Moreover, the numbers here represent the total amount of electricity consumed in a country divided by the population. Thus, it includes not just electricity used in homes but also offices, shops, factories, etc.

Also see: