The country that produces the most natural gas is the United States, according to the Energy Institute’s (EI) latest statistical review of world energy, which was published recently.
In the review, the U.S. was shown to have produced 1,073.7 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in 2025, which the review outlined accounted for 25.6 percent of total natural gas production last year. This figure marked a 4.3 percent year on year increase, according to the review, which revealed that, from 2015 to 2025, the U.S. has increased its natural gas production by an average of 3.8 percent every year.
The second biggest natural gas producer in 2025 was Russia, with 609.4 bcm, the review showed. This figure marked a 3.0 percent year on year drop and represented 14.5 percent of global natural gas production in 2025, the review outlined. From 2015 to 2025, Russia’s gas production has increased by an average of 0.4 percent every year, the report pointed out.
Iran was shown to be the third biggest natural gas producer last year in the EI’s latest review, with 264.8 bcm. This figure represented a 1.3 percent year on year increase and 6.3 percent of total natural gas production for 2025, according to the review, which revealed that, from 2015 to 2025, Iranian gas production has increased by an average of 3.7 percent every year.
Total natural gas production in 2025 came in at 4,196.5 bcm, the review showed. This marked a 1.6 percent year on year increase, the review revealed. From 2015 to 2025, global natural gas production has increased by an average of 1.8 percent every year, the review outlined.
The EI review highlighted that the natural gas figures above exclude gas flared or recycled and include natural gas produced for gas-to-liquids transformation.
Consumption
The United States was also the biggest natural gas consumer last year, the EI’s latest statistical review of world energy showed.
According to the review, the U.S. consumed 913.4 bcm of natural gas in 2025, which the review outlined accounted for 21.8 percent of total natural gas consumption last year. The U.S. consumption figure for 2025 marked a 1.6 percent year on year increase, the review revealed. From 2015 to 2025, U.S. natural gas consumption has grown by an average of 2.1 percent every year, the review highlighted.
Russia was the world’s second biggest consumer of natural gas, with 480.0 bcm, according to the review, which pointed out that this figure represented 11.5 percent of total natural gas demand last year. Russia’s natural gas demand figure for 2025 was 0.4 percent more than the prior year, according to the review, which outlined that, from 2015 to 2025, Russia’s natural gas consumption has increased by an average of 1.6 percent every year.
The EI review showed that China was the third biggest consumer of natural gas in 2025, with 441.9 bcm. According to the review, this figure marked 10.6 percent of total natural gas demand last year and represented a year on year growth figure of 2.3 percent for China. From 2015 to 2025, China’s natural gas demand has increased by an average of 8.5 percent every year, the review outlined.
Total global natural gas demand was less than total natural gas production in 2025, at 4,186.0 bcm, the review revealed. Even so, global natural gas demand increased by 1.6 percent year on year, according to the review, which pointed out that, from 2015 to 2025, global natural gas consumption has grown by an average of 1.9 percent every year.
The EI review highlighted that its natural gas consumption figures above exclude natural gas converted to liquid fuels and include derivatives of coal as well as natural gas consumed in gas-to-liquids transformation.
Global Gas Production, Consumption Drivers
In its latest review, the EI noted that “global natural gas production and consumption both rose by 1.6 percent; the former to 4,196 bcm, the latter to 4,186 bcm”.
“As gas-fired power generation only grew by 0.6 percent, the majority of growth was driven by other consumers such as chemicals,” the EI review added.
“Consumption growth was concentrated in Europe (4.2 percent), the Middle East (2.9 percent) and Africa (3.6 percent). North America also expanded (1.6 percent), while the Asia-Pacific region grew slightly (0.3 percent),” it continued.
“Production growth was led by North America (up four percent to 1,315 bcm), the Middle East (2.8 percent) and the Asia Pacific region (1.6 percent). Production declined in the CIS (1.7 percent), Europe (2.1 percent) and Africa (0.4 percent),” the review noted.
“The Asia Pacific region remained the second largest consuming region after North America at 976 bcm, with growth slowing to 0.3 percent. Higher demand in China (2.3 percent) and Taiwan (9.5 percent) was largely offset by declines in India (5.9 percent) and Pakistan (7.8 percent),” it went on to state.
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