Wind Adoption: 50 Countries Lined Up by the Year They Passed 1%
50 countries generating at least 10 TWh have passed 1% wind with at least 5 years of data since. Uruguay has the highest share now, 40.5% in 2025. Of the 24 that reached 10%, Kenya was fastest at 1 year from 1% and the Netherlands slowest at 18 years. The world passed 1% wind in 2008 and was at 8.5% in 2025. Data as of 2025, Ember annual statistics.
Key Facts
- 50 countries generating at least 10 TWh passed 1% wind and have at least 5 years of data since, to 2025.
- Uruguay had the highest wind share in its latest year, 40.5% in 2025; it passed 1% in 2011.
- Uruguay took 5 years from 1% to 20% wind, the Netherlands 21 years; 11 countries have reached 20%.
- Among countries that reached 10% wind, Kenya was fastest, 1 year after passing 1% in 2018, and the Netherlands slowest, 18 years after 2002.
- The median country took 9 years to go from 1% to 10% wind, across 24 countries.
- World wind share was 8.5% in 2025, 17 years after passing 1% in 2008.
Wind Share by Years Since Passing 1%
Ember, to 2025| Years since 1% | ๐บ๐พ Uruguay | ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | ๐ต๐น Portugal | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | ๐ฌ๐ท Greece | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1.5% | 1.1% |
| 1 | 1.0% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.8% | 3.1% | 1.2% | 1.4% |
| 2 | 1.2% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 1.8% | 1.9% | 2.4% | 3.7% | 1.8% | 1.6% |
| 3 | 5.6% | 1.9% | 2.5% | 4.5% | 6.1% | 2.7% | 2.1% | 4.1% | 5.4% | 1.9% | 2.0% |
| 4 | 15.1% | 2.7% | 2.7% | 7.1% | 8.7% | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4.3% | 7.1% | 2.2% | 2.4% |
| 5 | 21.6% | 4.4% | 4.3% | 8.3% | 12.7% | 4.3% | 3.3% | 6.4% | 8.0% | 2.9% | 2.7% |
| 6 | 26.3% | 6.1% | 5.5% | 8.8% | 15.4% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 7.3% | 10.2% | 2.9% | 3.0% |
| 7 | 32.4% | 7.0% | 7.9% | 11.9% | 17.2% | 5.0% | 4.1% | 10.1% | 9.9% | 3.6% | 3.5% |
| 8 | 29.6% | 8.2% | 9.5% | 11.8% | 17.7% | 6.4% | 3.4% | 9.9% | 11.6% | 4.2% | 3.9% |
| 9 | 40.4% | 10.7% | 11.9% | 16.7% | 22.6% | 6.5% | 4.5% | 10.7% | 13.0% | 4.8% | 4.5% |
| 10 | 31.2% | 10.2% | 11.0% | 18.5% | 23.9% | 6.7% | 4.9% | 10.2% | 13.6% | 5.7% | 4.8% |
| 11 | 32.2% | 16.4% | 14.7% | 24.8% | 23.4% | 6.2% | 5.6% | 11.8% | 15.2% | 6.4% | 5.3% |
| 12 | 37.1% | 15.0% | 17.1% | 27.5% | 22.7% | 8.2% | 5.7% | 16.8% | 14.9% | 7.3% | 6.0% |
| 13 | 38.6% | 18.0% | 19.5% | n/a | 21.1% | 8.3% | 6.9% | 15.9% | 17.5% | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 14 | 40.5% | 20.2% | 24.4% | n/a | 21.3% | 8.4% | 7.2% | 19.2% | 21.2% | 9.1% | 7.3% |
| 15 | n/a | 23.7% | 21.1% | n/a | 21.6% | 9.5% | 9.1% | 20.6% | n/a | 9.6% | 7.8% |
| 16 | n/a | 20.6% | 24.7% | n/a | 26.5% | 12.6% | 9.3% | 23.5% | n/a | 10.1% | 8.1% |
| 17 | n/a | 24.6% | 28.1% | n/a | 23.9% | 12.5% | 9.6% | 22.8% | n/a | 12.0% | 8.5% |
| 18 | n/a | 28.3% | 29.3% | n/a | 26.8% | 16.4% | 12.5% | n/a | n/a | 15.2% | n/a |
| 19 | n/a | 33.0% | 29.4% | n/a | 28.6% | 17.4% | 15.0% | n/a | n/a | 19.6% | n/a |
| 20 | n/a | 36.5% | n/a | n/a | 28.5% | 21.0% | 18.0% | n/a | n/a | 19.3% | n/a |
| 21 | n/a | 31.3% | n/a | n/a | 30.4% | 23.3% | 24.6% | n/a | n/a | 21.1% | n/a |
| 22 | n/a | 33.7% | n/a | n/a | 26.8% | 19.7% | 27.4% | n/a | n/a | 22.5% | n/a |
| 23 | n/a | 37.6% | n/a | n/a | n/a | 22.0% | 25.0% | n/a | n/a | 22.0% | n/a |
| 24 | n/a | 37.3% | n/a | n/a | n/a | 27.7% | n/a | n/a | n/a | 20.9% | n/a |
| 25 | n/a | 37.7% | n/a | n/a | n/a | 27.9% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 26 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 26.6% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Years From 1% to 5%, 10% and 20% Wind, by Country
50 countries| Country | Passed 1% | Years to 5% | Years to 10% | Years to 20% | Share now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ๐บ๐พ Uruguay | 2011 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 40.5%in 2025 |
| ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | 2000 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 37.7%in 2025 |
| ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | 2006 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 29.4%in 2025 |
| ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | 2013 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 27.5%in 2025 |
| ๐ต๐น Portugal | 2003 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 26.8%in 2025 |
| ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | 1999 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 26.6%in 2025 |
| ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | 2002 | 11 | 18 | 21 | 25.0%in 2025 |
| ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | 2008 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 22.8%in 2025 |
| ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | 2011 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 21.2%in 2025 |
| ๐ฌ๐ท Greece | 2001 | 10 | 16 | 21 | 20.9%in 2025 |
| ๐ช๐ธ Spain | 1999 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 20.4%in 2025 |
| ๐ง๐ช Belgium | 2009 | 5 | 9 | not yet | 18.6%in 2025 |
| ๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | 2018 | 1 | 1 | not yet | 16.5%in 2025 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | 2001 | 12 | 17 | not yet | 15.2%in 2025 |
| ๐ง๐ท Brazil | 2013 | 3 | 8 | not yet | 15.2%in 2025 |
| ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | 2010 | 5 | 12 | not yet | 13.9%in 2025 |
| ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | 2007 | 9 | 14 | not yet | 13.9%in 2025 |
| ๐จ๐ฑ Chile | 2014 | 5 | 9 | not yet | 13.1%in 2025 |
| ๐ฆ๐ท Argentina | 2019 | 1 | 5 | not yet | 12.2%in 2025 |
| ๐ท๐ด Romania | 2011 | 2 | 4 | not yet | 12.0%in 2025 |
| ๐ฆ๐น Austria | 2004 | 10 | 17 | not yet | 11.4%in 2025 |
| ๐น๐ท Turkey | 2010 | 6 | 12 | not yet | 11.1%in 2025 |
| ๐จ๐ณ China | 2010 | 8 | 15 | not yet | 10.7%in 2025 |
| ๐บ๐ธ United States | 2008 | 8 | 16 | not yet | 10.3%in 2025 |
| ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand | 2005 | 9 | not yet | not yet | 9.6%in 2025 |
| ๐ซ๐ท France | 2008 | 11 | not yet | not yet | 8.8%in 2025 |
| ๐ณ๐ด Norway | 2011 | 9 | not yet | not yet | 8.4%in 2025 |
| ๐ฎ๐น Italy | 2007 | 6 | not yet | not yet | 8.1%in 2025 |
| ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | 2009 | 9 | not yet | not yet | 8.0%in 2025 |
| ๐ฏ๐ด Jordan | 2016 | 4 | not yet | not yet | 7.4%in 2024 |
| ๐ต๐ฆ Panama | 2014 | 4 | not yet | not yet | 7.2%in 2024 |
| ๐ฑ๐ฐ Sri Lanka | 2012 | 11 | not yet | not yet | 6.2%in 2025 |
| ๐ฉ๐ด Dominican Republic | 2013 | 7 | not yet | not yet | 6.2%in 2025 |
| ๐ญ๐ณ Honduras | 2011 | 4 | not yet | not yet | 6.0%in 2024 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico | 2012 | 8 | not yet | not yet | 5.6%in 2025 |
| ๐ฎ๐ณ India | 2006 | 19 | not yet | not yet | 5.0%in 2025 |
| ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | 2015 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 4.7%in 2025 |
| ๐ช๐ฌ Egypt | 2015 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 4.1%in 2025 |
| ๐ท๐ธ Serbia | 2019 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 4.1%in 2025 |
| ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria | 2010 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 3.5%in 2025 |
| ๐ต๐ช Peru | 2015 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 3.5%in 2025 |
| ๐ช๐น Ethiopia | 2012 | 2 | not yet | not yet | 3.3%in 2025 |
| ๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2019 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 2.6%in 2025 |
| ๐ฌ๐น Guatemala | 2016 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 2.3%in 2024 |
| ๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan | 2016 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 2.2%in 2025 |
| ๐น๐ญ Thailand | 2019 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 1.8%in 2025 |
| ๐ญ๐บ Hungary | 2010 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 1.5%in 2025 |
| ๐น๐ณ Tunisia | 2012 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 1.3%in 2025 |
| ๐ต๐ญ Philippines | 2016 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 1.2%in 2025 |
| ๐ต๐ท Puerto Rico | 2014 | not yet | not yet | not yet | 1.1%in 2025 |
Countries that generated at least 10 TWh in their latest year, passed 1% wind after their series began, have at least 5 years of data since and are still at or above 1%. Year 0 is the first year with a share of at least 1% where the next reported year is also at or above 1%. A milestone year likewise needs the next reported year to still be at or above it, so a one year spike is not counted. Each year count is to the first time a share was reached: a country can have reached a level and later fallen back below it. Each country is measured to its own latest Ember year. The 10 countries with the highest share now are drawn, with the world. 2 countries at or above 10 TWh already had at least 1% wind in the first year of their series, so when they passed 1% is not in the data and they are left out (Denmark at 2.4% in 1990 and Costa Rica at 2.6% in 2000). "Not yet" means the country has not reached that share. Column headings sort the table.
Questions About Wind Adoption
How fast do countries go from 1% to 10% wind power?
Among the 24 countries that reached 10% wind, the median was 9 years after passing 1%. The fastest was Kenya (1 year) and the slowest the Netherlands (18 years). Figures are Ember annual statistics to 2025.
Why are some countries missing from the wind table?
A country is listed when it generated at least 10 TWh, its series began below 1%, it passed 1% with at least 5 years of data since, and it is still at or above 1%. Denmark and Costa Rica already stood at 1% or more when their series begin, so the year they passed 1% is not in the data.
Source: Ember (ember-energy.org), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Data as of 2025. Annual statistics from Ember, each country to its own latest year, up to 2025.
Related
Cite this page
World Power Monitor. (2025). Wind Adoption Curves: Years From 1% to 20% by Country. https://worldpowermonitor.com/adoption/wind/
World Power Monitor. Wind Adoption Curves: Years From 1% to 20% by Country. Data as of 2025. Data from Ember. https://worldpowermonitor.com/adoption/wind/
@misc{wpm_adoption_wind_2025,
title = {{Wind Adoption Curves: Years From 1\% to 20\% by Country}},
author = {{World Power Monitor}},
year = {2025},
note = {Data as of 2025. Data from Ember.},
url = {https://worldpowermonitor.com/adoption/wind/}
} Permalink: https://worldpowermonitor.com/adoption/wind/
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