New data from IRENA and ILO show that global renewable energy employment has nearly doubled from 7.3 million in 2012 to 13.7 million in 2022. From 2021 to 2022 almost 1 million jobs were added.
Solar photovoltaics (PV) led the growth, rising from 1.36 million to 4.9 million in 2022, and now accounts for over one-third of all renewable energy jobs. Bioenergy, hydropower and wind energy also contributed to the rise in renewable energy jobs over the past decade.
As highlighted by IRENA and the ILO, most of these jobs concentrated in a few countries. China alone make up 41% of all jobs, 5.5M, followed by Brazil 1.4M, United States and India at close to 1M each, and the EU27 with 1.5M.
Looking ahead, IRENA and the ILO said that: “We can expect the creation of many millions of additional jobs in the coming years and decades, provided that education and skills development programmes are appropriately expanded, workforce development programmes are put in place, and labour markets respond to evolving needs.”
Chart notes:
- Bioenergy includes liquid biofuels, solid biomass and biogas.
- Hydropower is direct jobs only.
- “Others” includes geothermal energy, concentrated solar power, heat pumps (ground based), municipal and industrial waste, and ocean energy.
- Solar heat/cool: Solar heating/cooling
Read more:
- Renewable energy and jobs: Annual review 2023, ILO and IRENA