About this chart race
This race ranks annual electricity generated by hydropower in terawatt-hours (TWh). Canada leads the selected countries in 2000 at 356.76 TWh; China takes the lead in 2004 and remains first through 2025. In the downloaded series, China ends at 1,397.06 TWh, followed by Brazil at 388.63 TWh and Canada at 344.74 TWh.
The selection starts with countries that appeared in the source’s annual top ten at least once during 2000–2025, then keeps only those with all 26 annual observations. Twelve countries meet both conditions. Venezuela is omitted because its series has no 2025 observation. Regional aggregates are excluded, and missing values are never replaced with invented figures.
All values come from the hydro_electricity_twh indicator in Our World in Data’s energy dataset, retrieved on 14 October 2026. Its source compilation includes Ember and the Energy Institute. Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2026 independently lists China, Brazil and Canada as the three largest hydro generators in 2025, matching the final ordering here. Its reported China total differs slightly from this downloaded series; figures from the two releases are not mixed.
Annual figures may include estimates and later revisions. The ranking measures electricity output, not installed generating capacity, national reliance on hydropower or output per person. Movement between annual values is interpolated for animation, not additional measurements. This comparison covers selected countries and is not a complete global total.
This animated ranking shows how annual hydropower electricity generation changed across 12 series between 2000 and 2025. The bars re-order themselves as the years advance, so overtakes are visible as they happen rather than hidden inside a table. Use the list on the left to choose exactly who competes, drag the slider to jump to any year, or open the table view to read the underlying numbers.
As of 2025, China leads with 1,397.06 TWh.
Included in this race
China, Brazil, Canada, United States, Russia, India, Norway, Vietnam, Japan, Turkey, Sweden, France.
Source
Data from Ember / Energy Institute via Our World in Data. Check the stated period and methodology. Animated transitions between source observations are visual interpolation, not additional measurements.
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