IEA says China has overtaken US as world's largest energy user

London, July 20 (ANI): The International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared China to be the world's largest energy user.

According to the Financial Times, China's rise to the top ranking has been faster than expected, in part because the United States has outpaced China in improving energy efficiency measures over the past decade.

In 2000, the United States-the world's largest economy -- consumed twice as much energy as China, but China, which is now the world's third-largest economy, consumes more than the United States now, the report quoted Fatih Birol, the IEA's chief economist, as saying.

The United States had improved efficiency in energy use by 2.5 percent annually in the last decade, while China only managed 1.7 percent annual improvement.

According to Xinhua, China last year consumed 2.252 billion tons of oil equivalent of energy from sources including coal, oil, natural gas, hyrdro and nuclear power, about four percent more than the United States. (ANI)