Contents
- Global hydrogen production statistics by region and production capacity
- Global hydrogen production statistics for low-emissions hydrogen
- Global hydrogen production statistics by technology and emissions category
- Global hydrogen production statistics: 2030 projects and investment
- Global hydrogen production statistics and hydrogen system context
- Sources
Global hydrogen production statistics by region and production capacity
Hydrogen statistics describe different things that should not be read as interchangeable. Production capacity is the annual output a set of facilities could produce under the measure used by the source; actual production records hydrogen made during a specified period. The Energy Institute’s 2025 Statistical Review reports hydrogen production capacity in thousand tonnes per year, with figures attributed to Rystad Energy. Its 2024 regional totals therefore describe capacity, not the volume produced in 2024. Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025
The table gives the reported 2024 totals and their blue and green category values. All entries are thousand tonnes per year. The review presents regional rows alongside OECD and non-OECD groupings; these are different ways of classifying the same broad geography, so the group rows should not be added to the regional rows.
| Region or grouping | Total capacity | Blue | Green |
|---|---|---|---|
| World | 4,276.6 | 3,877.3 | 399.3 |
| North America | 2,462.7 | 2,329.8 | 132.8 |
| South and Central America | 2.1 | Not stated | 2.1 |
| Europe | 153.8 | 93.2 | 60.6 |
| Middle East | 230.5 | 230.0 | 0.5 |
| Africa | 1.7 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| Asia Pacific | 1,425.2 | 1,224.2 | 201.0 |
| OECD | 2,622.9 | 2,423.4 | 199.5 |
| Non-OECD | 1,653.7 | 1,453.9 | 199.8 |
Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025
North America has the largest reported regional total in this table, at 2,462.7 thousand tonnes per year, followed by Asia Pacific at 1,425.2. Europe’s reported capacity is 153.8, while the South and Central America total is 2.1. These are figures in the review’s particular capacity series, not a complete account of every announced project or a measure of regional demand.
The blue and green rows provide the review’s category breakdown. For example, Europe has 93.2 thousand tonnes per year of blue-category capacity and 60.6 of green-category capacity. Asia Pacific has 1,224.2 blue and 201.0 green. The Middle East figures are 230.0 and 0.5, respectively. The table’s regional values should be quoted as printed: the Africa total is 1.7, while its blue and green entries are each 2.3. This apparent inconsistency is a reason to preserve the source’s rows rather than silently recompute or reconcile them.
OECD and non-OECD totals offer another lens. The OECD grouping reports 2,622.9 thousand tonnes per year of total capacity, including 2,423.4 blue and 199.5 green. The non-OECD grouping reports 1,653.7 total, with 1,453.9 blue and 199.8 green. These classifications do not by themselves explain why capacity is distributed as shown; they describe the review’s reported figures.
Global hydrogen production statistics for low-emissions hydrogen
Actual low-emissions hydrogen production remains much smaller than total hydrogen output. The 2024 IEA review says global hydrogen production reached 97 Mt in 2023, of which less than 1% was low-emissions. That is a historical 2023 observation, not a current-year estimate. The same report’s comparison makes clear that the low-emissions category was a small portion of production at that point. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2024: Hydrogen production
The IEA’s 2026 review reports that low-emissions production grew by 20% in 2025 to almost 1 Mt. It also describes global production as rising from less than 0.6 Mt in 2020 to around 1 Mt in 2025. The two statements use approximate quantities for 2025, and both refer to low-emissions hydrogen output rather than nameplate capacity. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Executive summary IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Key questions about hydrogen
The 2026 production report says low-emissions hydrogen is expected to account for more than 1% of global production in 2026, alongside an expectation of record growth. This is a report estimate for 2026, not a confirmed full-year result. The comparison with 2023 is useful for scale, but it should retain both the different reporting years and the source’s language: less than 1% in 2023, and an expectation of more than 1% in 2026. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production
The geographic picture is uneven in scale. The IEA executive summary says around 6 kt of low-emissions hydrogen is produced in Africa “today.” The source gives this report-present description without an exact measurement year, so it should not be converted into a dated annual time series or treated as a precise 2026 production total. Its rounded value also uses kilotonnes, whereas the global observations above are expressed in megatonnes. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Executive summary
These output observations are separate from the Energy Institute capacity series. A facility’s capacity does not establish how much hydrogen it produced, and announced plans do not establish either output or operating capacity. Keeping those measures distinct helps explain why a rapidly growing capacity category can still represent a small share of current global production.
Global hydrogen production statistics by technology and emissions category
The Energy Institute table separates blue and green capacity categories. These labels are category names in the source’s table; they do not provide a complete facility-by-facility account of production methods or emissions intensity. For global capacity in 2024, green represents 9.3% and blue 90.7% of the reported total. The shares are explicitly capacity shares, not shares of actual hydrogen produced. Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025
The long-run annual growth-rate columns show a marked difference between the two categories. From 2014 to 2024, world blue-category capacity grew at 5.8% per year, while green-category capacity grew at 49.8% per year. The total world capacity series grew at 6.8% per year over that same interval. These are the review’s annual growth rates for capacity over 2014–2024; they are not rates of actual output growth. Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025
| Capacity series | Reported growth rate |
|---|---|
| World blue, annual rate over 2014–2024 | 5.8% per year |
| World green, annual rate over 2014–2024 | 49.8% per year |
| Total world capacity, annual rate over 2014–2024 | 6.8% per year |
| World green, 2024 annual rate | 53.5% |
| Total world capacity, 2024 annual rate | 3.4% |
Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025
The one-year figures for 2024 also show faster growth in green-category capacity than in the total series. The review reports 53.5% growth for world green capacity and 3.4% for total world capacity in 2024. Regional and economic groupings vary: green capacity grew 108.3% in Asia Pacific and 109.9% in non-OECD economies in 2024, compared with 20.9% in OECD economies. These percentages refer to capacity growth in the source’s categories and periods. They should not be read as evidence that every region began from the same base or added the same absolute volume. Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025
The distinction between rate and scale matters. Green capacity’s high growth rates coexist with its 9.3% share of world capacity in 2024. The global blue category still accounts for 90.7% of the capacity total in that table. Growth rates alone cannot establish how much capacity is being used, what output it achieves, or the emissions associated with an individual facility. The source’s capacity figures and the IEA’s low-emissions production statistics answer related but different questions.
Global hydrogen production statistics: 2030 projects and investment
The IEA’s 2026 review describes a project pipeline that is much larger than production currently delivered, while also noting that the announced outlook has contracted. Announced low-emissions production projects total 27 Mt by 2030 in the executive summary. The production report says this pipeline shrank by 10 Mt to 27 Mt by 2030. These are project-outlook quantities, not realized 2030 production. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Executive summary IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production
A narrower measure is production associated with projects that have advanced further. The IEA says committed low-emissions production grew by 3%, reaching 4.3 Mt by 2030. In its discussion of projects that have secured investment decisions, the review gives an outcome of just over 4 Mt by 2030, with a further 2 Mt possible if enabling conditions improve. The conditional 2 Mt is additional potential, not a committed amount. The figures use related but distinct descriptions of project maturity, so they should not be combined into a new total. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Key questions about hydrogen
| Measure in the IEA outlook | Reported amount or timing |
|---|---|
| Announced low-emissions production pipeline | 27 Mt by 2030; pipeline shrank by 10 Mt |
| Committed low-emissions production | 4.3 Mt by 2030; grew by 3% |
| Projects with investment decisions | Just over 4 Mt by 2030 |
| Additional conditional production | A further 2 Mt possible if enabling conditions improve |
| New production-project final investment decisions | Below 0.8 Mtpa in 2025 |
IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Executive summary IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Key questions about hydrogen
Investment decisions are one indicator of which announced ambitions are moving forward. New final investment decisions for production projects dropped below 0.8 Mtpa in 2025, after two consecutive years at around 1 Mtpa. Mtpa here describes annual production capacity associated with new decisions, not hydrogen already produced during 2025. The comparison points to a slower flow of new project commitments in the report’s stated measure, without establishing why those decisions changed. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production
Electrolysis announcements carry a separate capacity and timing measure. More than 100 GW of announced electrolysis capacity could lose the chance to operate by 2030 if investment decisions are not taken before the end of 2027. This is power capacity, not a mass of hydrogen output, and the statement is conditional. It does not mean that the full announced amount will be built or that its output can be inferred from the GW figure alone. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production
Global hydrogen production statistics and hydrogen system context
Electrolyser capacity helps describe the production system, but it is measured in power units rather than tonnes of hydrogen. The IEA reports that global installed electrolysis capacity doubled in 2025 to surpass 4 GW. It attributes this development to commissioning of several large-scale projects in China. The figure describes installed equipment capacity; it does not state the quantity of hydrogen produced by that equipment. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production
The same report notes more than 2.5 GW of electrolysis capacity under construction, targeting operation in 2026. It expects most of this growth in Europe, with 2 GW. These are project and timing statements from the review, not confirmation that all capacity became operational during 2026. Nor can the expected GW additions be directly compared with the Energy Institute’s thousand-tonnes-per-year capacity figures without additional information about utilization and output. IEA, Global Hydrogen Review 2026: Production
Read together, the measures give a layered view of the hydrogen system: regional annual production capacity in the Energy Institute series; actual low-emissions production in the IEA’s dated output observations; and project volumes, investment decisions, and electrolyser power capacity in the forward-looking material. Each layer has its own unit and timeframe. The core pattern in the reported figures is that low-emissions capacity and output are expanding, while the committed project outlook remains well below the announced pipeline and installed electrolysis capacity is still reported in gigawatts rather than hydrogen tonnage.