Urbanization
Breaking the Ice: Mapping a Changing Arctic
Breaking the Ice: Mapping a Changing Arctic
The Arctic is changing. As retreating ice cover makes this region more accessible, nations with Arctic real estate are thinking of developing these subzero landscapes and the resources below.
As the Arctic evolves, a vast amount of resources will become more accessible and longer shipping seasons will improve Arctic logistics. But with a changing climate and increased public pressure to limit resource development in environmentally sensitive regions, the future of northern economic activity is far from certain.
This week’s Chart of the Week shows the location of major oil and gas fields in the Arctic and the possible new trade routes through this frontier.
A Final Frontier for Undiscovered Resources?
Underneath the Arctic Circle lies massive oil and natural gas formations. The United States Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic contains approximately 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil resources and about 30% of its undiscovered natural gas resources.
So far, most exploration in the Arctic has occurred on land. This work produced the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field in Alaska, the Tazovskoye Field in Russia, and hundreds of smaller fields, many of which are on Alaska’s North Slope, an area now under environmental protection.
Land accounts for about 1/3 of the Arctic’s area and is thought to hold about 16% of the Arctic’s remaining undiscovered oil and gas resources. A further 1/3 of the Arctic area is comprised of offshore continental shelves, which are thought to contain enormous amounts of resources but remain largely unexplored by geologists.
The remaining 1/3 of the Arctic is deep ocean waters measuring thousands of feet in depth.
The Arctic circle is about the same geographic size as the African continent─about 6% of Earth’s surface area─yet it holds an estimated 22% of Earth’s oil and natural gas resources. This paints a target on the Arctic for exploration and development, especially with shorter seasons of ice coverage improving ocean access.
Thawing Ice Cover: Improved Ocean Access, New Trading Routes
As Arctic ice melts, sea routes will stay navigable for longer periods, which could drastically change international trade and shipping. September ice coverage has decreased by more than 25% since 1979, although the area within the Arctic Circle is still almost entirely covered with ice from November to July.
Route | Length | Ice-free Time |
---|---|---|
Northern Sea Route | 4,740 Nautical Miles | 6 weeks of open waters |
Transpolar Sea Route | 4,179 Nautical Miles | 2 weeks of open waters |
Northwest Passage | 5,225 Nautical Miles | Periodically ice-free |
Arctic Bridge | 3,600 Nautical Miles | Ice-free |
Typically shipping to Japan from Rotterdam would use the Suez Canal and take about 30 days, whereas a route from New York would use the Panama Canal and take about 25 days.
But if the Europe-Asia trip used the Northern Sea Route along the northern coast of Russia, the trip would last 18 days and the distance would shrink from ~11,500 nautical miles to ~6,900 nautical miles. For the U.S.-Asia trip through the Northwest Passage, it would take 21 days, rather than 25.
Control of these routes could bring significant advantages to countries and corporations looking for a competitive edge.
Competing Interests: Arctic Neighbors
Eight countries lay claim to land that lies within the Arctic Circle: Canada, Denmark (through its administration of Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.
There is no consistent agreement among these nations regarding the claims to oil and gas beneath the Arctic Ocean seafloor. However, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides each country an exclusive economic zone extending 200 miles out from its shoreline and up to 350 miles, under certain geological conditions.
Uncertain geology and politics has led to overlapping territorial disputes over how each nation defines and maps its claims based on the edge of continental margins. For example, Russia claims that their continental margin follows the Lomonosov Ridge all the way to the North Pole. In another, both the U.S. and Canada claim a portion of the Beaufort Sea, which is thought to contain significant oil and natural gas resources.
To Develop or Not to Develop
Just because the resources are there does not mean humans have to exploit them, especially given oil’s environmental impacts. Canada’s federal government has already returned security deposits that oil majors had paid to drill in Canadian Arctic waters, which are currently off limits until at least 2021.
In total, the Government of Canada returned US$327 million worth of security deposits, or 25% of the money oil companies pledged to spend on exploration in the Beaufort Sea. In addition, Goldman Sachs announced that it would not finance any projects in the U.S.’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The retreat of Western economic interests in the Arctic may leave the region to Russia and China, countries with less strict environmental regulations.
Russia has launched an ambitious plan to remilitarize the Arctic. Specifically, Russia is searching for evidence to prove its territorial claims to additional portions of the Arctic, so that it can move its Arctic borderline — which currently measures over 14,000 miles in length — further north.
In a changing Arctic, this potentially resource-rich region could become another venue for geopolitical tensions, again testing whether humans can be proper stewards of the natural world.
Support the Future of Data Storytelling
Sorry to interrupt your reading, but we have a favor to ask. At Visual Capitalist we believe in a world where data can be understood by everyone. That’s why we want to build the VC App - the first app of its kind combining verifiable and transparent data with beautiful, memorable visuals. All available for free.
As a small, independent media company we don’t have the expertise in-house or the funds to build an app like this. So we’re asking our community to help us raise funds on Kickstarter.
If you believe in data-driven storytelling, join the movement and back us on Kickstarter!
Thank you.

Urbanization
Mapped: Energy Consumption Per Capita Around the World
Which countries use the most energy per person?

Mapping Global Energy Consumption Per Capita
In the four decades since 1980, global energy consumption doubled from 77 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) to nearly 155 trillion kWh.
But despite soaring energy demand from emerging economies, energy consumption per person only grew by around 14%.
So, which countries consume the most energy per capita today?
The above infographic maps global per capita energy consumption in 2020 using data from Our World in Data. Energy consumption includes electricity, transport, and heating.
The Energy Consumption Leaderboard
The top 10 countries by energy consumption per capita are relatively wealthy and heavily industrialized.
Country | Year of data | Energy consumption per capita (kWh) |
---|---|---|
Iceland | 2020 | 167,175 |
Qatar | 2020 | 165,044 |
Singapore | 2020 | 162,192 |
Bahrain | 2019 | 145,193 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 2020 | 123,800 |
Brunei | 2019 | 121,637 |
United Arab Emirates | 2020 | 117,686 |
Canada | 2020 | 100,310 |
Norway | 2020 | 98,879 |
Kuwait | 2020 | 98,021 |
United States Virgin Islands | 2019 | 95,010 |
Malta | 2019 | 91,685 |
Saudi Arabia | 2020 | 84,262 |
Faeroe Islands | 2019 | 80,177 |
New Caledonia | 2019 | 78,606 |
Oman | 2020 | 74,514 |
United States | 2020 | 73,677 |
Turkmenistan | 2020 | 64,639 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 2019 | 64,130 |
South Korea | 2020 | 63,865 |
Luxembourg | 2020 | 63,726 |
Greenland | 2019 | 62,156 |
Europe | 2020 | 28,617 |
European Union (27) | 2020 | 34,772 |
Falkland Islands | 2019 | 61,362 |
Australia | 2020 | 60,660 |
Sweden | 2020 | 60,494 |
Taiwan | 2020 | 56,199 |
Finland | 2020 | 54,962 |
Netherlands | 2020 | 54,673 |
Russia | 2020 | 53,895 |
Belgium | 2020 | 52,510 |
Bermuda | 2019 | 51,713 |
Cayman Islands | 2019 | 51,435 |
Aruba | 2019 | 51,179 |
New Zealand | 2020 | 48,414 |
Seychelles | 2019 | 47,768 |
Kazakhstan | 2020 | 45,950 |
Guam | 2019 | 44,771 |
Austria | 2020 | 42,676 |
Bahamas | 2019 | 41,170 |
Germany | 2020 | 40,153 |
Czechia | 2020 | 39,883 |
Iran | 2020 | 39,785 |
Estonia | 2020 | 39,024 |
Japan | 2020 | 37,403 |
France | 2020 | 37,041 |
Slovenia | 2020 | 35,850 |
Malaysia | 2020 | 35,296 |
Ireland | 2020 | 34,600 |
Switzerland | 2020 | 34,597 |
Hong Kong | 2020 | 34,430 |
Israel | 2020 | 33,625 |
Slovakia | 2020 | 31,697 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 2019 | 31,385 |
Puerto Rico | 2019 | 29,546 |
Spain | 2020 | 29,541 |
Poland | 2020 | 29,453 |
Bhutan | 2019 | 29,338 |
Panama | 2019 | 28,998 |
Belarus | 2020 | 28,871 |
Denmark | 2020 | 28,314 |
United Kingdom | 2020 | 28,211 |
China | 2020 | 28,072 |
Cook Islands | 2019 | 27,921 |
Hungary | 2020 | 27,834 |
Bulgaria | 2020 | 27,582 |
Montserrat | 2019 | 27,374 |
Italy | 2020 | 26,936 |
Greece | 2020 | 26,659 |
American Samoa | 2019 | 26,024 |
Libya | 2019 | 25,864 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 2019 | 25,775 |
Portugal | 2020 | 25,405 |
Lithuania | 2020 | 25,365 |
Nauru | 2019 | 24,818 |
Martinique | 2019 | 24,598 |
Barbados | 2019 | 24,537 |
Mongolia | 2019 | 24,338 |
Suriname | 2019 | 24,136 |
Macao | 2019 | 23,858 |
British Virgin Islands | 2019 | 23,486 |
Cyprus | 2020 | 23,358 |
Chile | 2020 | 23,348 |
Mauritius | 2019 | 23,278 |
Latvia | 2019 | 23,051 |
South Africa | 2020 | 22,959 |
Serbia | 2019 | 22,784 |
Montenegro | 2019 | 22,650 |
Croatia | 2020 | 22,105 |
Guadeloupe | 2019 | 21,483 |
Laos | 2019 | 21,449 |
Latvia | 2020 | 21,370 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 2019 | 21,074 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2019 | 21,068 |
Ukraine | 2020 | 21,048 |
Turkey | 2020 | 20,716 |
Thailand | 2020 | 20,370 |
Niue | 2019 | 19,975 |
Argentina | 2020 | 19,352 |
Romania | 2020 | 19,220 |
Georgia | 2019 | 18,547 |
Paraguay | 2019 | 18,398 |
Maldives | 2019 | 17,493 |
Azerbaijan | 2020 | 17,037 |
French Polynesia | 2019 | 16,894 |
Equatorial Guinea | 2019 | 16,880 |
French Guiana | 2019 | 16,526 |
Reunion | 2019 | 15,931 |
Brazil | 2020 | 15,692 |
Lebanon | 2019 | 15,614 |
Uzbekistan | 2020 | 15,542 |
Armenia | 2019 | 15,538 |
Saint Lucia | 2019 | 14,909 |
Jamaica | 2019 | 14,563 |
Algeria | 2020 | 14,561 |
Guyana | 2019 | 14,246 |
Iraq | 2020 | 14,246 |
Venezuela | 2020 | 14,082 |
Mexico | 2020 | 13,952 |
North Macedonia | 2020 | 13,582 |
Costa Rica | 2019 | 13,159 |
Vietnam | 2020 | 11,669 |
Grenada | 2019 | 11,661 |
Jordan | 2019 | 11,484 |
Dominican Republic | 2019 | 11,435 |
Albania | 2019 | 11,266 |
Dominica | 2019 | 10,994 |
Ecuador | 2020 | 10,158 |
Botswana | 2019 | 9,992 |
Egypt | 2020 | 9,899 |
Colombia | 2020 | 9,648 |
Fiji | 2019 | 9,642 |
Cuba | 2019 | 9,608 |
Belize | 2019 | 9,247 |
Saint Helena | 2019 | 8,871 |
Namibia | 2019 | 8,738 |
Peru | 2020 | 8,400 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2019 | 8,154 |
Tajikistan | 2019 | 8,102 |
Samoa | 2019 | 7,959 |
Bolivia | 2019 | 7,940 |
Gabon | 2019 | 7,850 |
Cape Verde | 2019 | 7,776 |
Indonesia | 2020 | 7,753 |
Syria | 2019 | 7,325 |
El Salvador | 2019 | 7,070 |
Tonga | 2019 | 6,694 |
Morocco | 2020 | 6,607 |
India | 2020 | 6,438 |
Micronesia | 2019 | 6,334 |
Honduras | 2019 | 5,803 |
Guatemala | 2019 | 5,689 |
Eswatini | 2019 | 5,678 |
Congo | 2019 | 4,735 |
Philippines | 2020 | 4,626 |
Nicaragua | 2019 | 4,372 |
Pakistan | 2020 | 4,369 |
Sri Lanka | 2020 | 4,237 |
Cambodia | 2019 | 3,994 |
Palestine | 2019 | 3,991 |
Mauritania | 2019 | 3,976 |
Africa | 2020 | 3,851 |
North Korea | 2019 | 3,696 |
Angola | 2019 | 3,430 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 2019 | 3,412 |
Zambia | 2019 | 3,398 |
Zimbabwe | 2019 | 3,375 |
Papua New Guinea | 2019 | 3,316 |
Ghana | 2019 | 3,294 |
Vanuatu | 2019 | 3,188 |
Myanmar | 2019 | 3,130 |
Kiribati | 2019 | 2,739 |
Senegal | 2019 | 2,703 |
Bangladesh | 2020 | 2,685 |
Djibouti | 2019 | 2,598 |
Benin | 2019 | 2,483 |
Nigeria | 2019 | 2,481 |
Cote d'Ivoire | 2019 | 2,417 |
Mozambique | 2019 | 2,377 |
Sudan | 2019 | 2,360 |
Lesotho | 2019 | 2,293 |
Solomon Islands | 2019 | 2,038 |
Western Sahara | 2019 | 1,868 |
Kenya | 2019 | 1,849 |
Cameroon | 2019 | 1,818 |
Timor | 2019 | 1,682 |
Yemen | 2019 | 1,598 |
Comoros | 2019 | 1,567 |
Nepal | 2019 | 1,530 |
Mali | 2019 | 1,289 |
Guinea | 2019 | 1,212 |
Togo | 2019 | 1,205 |
Haiti | 2019 | 1,164 |
Liberia | 2019 | 1,112 |
Gambia | 2019 | 1,039 |
Tanzania | 2019 | 978 |
Burkina Faso | 2019 | 952 |
Afghanistan | 2019 | 946 |
Eritrea | 2019 | 945 |
Ethiopia | 2019 | 944 |
Uganda | 2019 | 862 |
Guinea-Bissau | 2019 | 721 |
South Sudan | 2019 | 705 |
Madagascar | 2019 | 677 |
Malawi | 2019 | 530 |
Sierra Leone | 2019 | 528 |
Rwanda | 2019 | 500 |
Chad | 2019 | 462 |
Niger | 2019 | 451 |
Democratic Republic of Congo | 2019 | 403 |
Central African Republic | 2019 | 328 |
Burundi | 2019 | 319 |
Somalia | 2019 | 236 |
Iceland tops the list and is also the leading generator of electricity per capita. Thanks to the country’s abundance of geothermal resources, geothermal and hydropower plants account for more than 99% of Iceland’s electricity generation.
Many of the top 10 countries are large energy producers or industry-heavy economies. For example, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Kuwait, Norway, and Qatar are among the world’s 15 largest oil-producing countries. Similarly, Trinidad and Tobago is the largest oil and gas producer in the Caribbean and is one of the largest exporters of ammonia globally.
The presence of energy-intensive industries like oil and gas extraction is likely a major factor influencing total and per-person energy use in these countries.
Why is Tiny Iceland So Big on Energy Use?
Why does Iceland use so much energy per person?
Let’s take a look at Iceland’s colossal industrial energy consumption, to see where energy goes:
Sector / Industry | 2019 energy consumption* (thousand kWh) | % of total |
---|---|---|
Aluminum smelters | 12,490,266 | 65.9% |
Services | 1,127,615 | 5.9% |
Data centers | 990,097 | 5.2% |
Ferroalloy industry | 897,846 | 4.7% |
Residential | 847,713 | 4.5% |
Utilities | 781,707 | 4.1% |
Aluminum foil industry | 473,723 | 2.5% |
Agriculture | 231,236 | 1.2% |
Fisheries | 78,940 | 0.4% |
Other industries | 1,038,410 | 5.5% |
Total | 18,957,553 | 100% |
*Energy consumption excludes losses.
Source: Orkustofnunn – National Energy Authority of Iceland
Iceland’s three Aluminum smelters—Alcoa, Rio Tinto Alcan, and Century Aluminum—consume more energy than all other sectors combined, and account for 30% of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions. Iceland isn’t particularly rich in bauxite (the raw material used to make aluminum), but cheap and clean electricity are big incentives for aluminum smelters to set up operations on the island.
For similar reasons, Iceland is also a popular destination for data centers and bitcoin mining. The year-round cool climate lowers cooling costs for thousands of computers running around the clock, and clean grid electricity minimizes their carbon footprint.
Overall, it’s not surprising that the residential sector is among the smaller consumers of energy, despite the importance of home heating in a cool climate. Iceland’s industries, especially aluminum smelting, make up the bulk of its energy use, pushing the overall per-person use above all other countries.
The Bottom 10 Countries
Countries at the bottom end of the list are among the world’s least-developed economies, with relatively lower GDP per capita numbers.
Country | 2019 Energy consumption per capita (kWh) | GDP per capita (2020, current US$) |
---|---|---|
Madagascar | 677 | $471.5 |
Malawi | 530 | $636.8 |
Sierra Leone | 528 | $509.4 |
Rwanda | 500 | $797.9 |
Chad | 462 | $659.3 |
Niger | 451 | $567.7 |
Democratic Republic of Congo | 403 | $544.0 |
Central African Republic | 328 | $492.8 |
Burundi | 319 | $239.0 |
Somalia | 236 | $438.3 |
These countries consumed significantly less energy per capita compared to the global average of 19,836 kWh. In a stark contrast to the countries topping the list, their per capita GDPs are all lower than $1,000.
As economies develop, villages get electrified, megacities emerge, and industries grow, leading to higher overall energy consumption. On a global scale, if economic growth continues, energy consumption per capita is likely to continue its steady increase.
Urbanization
Visualizing the Material Impact of Global Urbanization
The world’s material consumption is expected to grow from 41 billion tonnes in 2010 to about 89 billion tonnes by 2050. This graphic shows the impact of urbanization.

Visualizing the Material Impact of Global Urbanization
Cities only cover 2% of the world’s land surface, but activities within their boundaries consume over 75% of the planet’s material resources.
With the expansion of urban areas, the world’s material consumption is expected to grow from 41.1 billion tonnes in 2010 to about 89 billion tonnes by 2050.
In today’s graphic, we use data from the UN International Resource Panel to visualize the material impact of global urbanization.
How Material Consumption is Calculated
Today, more than 4.3 billion people or 55% of the world’s population live in urban settings, and the number is expected to rise to 80% by 2050.
Every year, the world produces an immense amount of materials in order to supply the continuous construction of human-built environments.
To calculate how much we use to build our cities, the UN uses the Domestic Material Consumption (DMC), a measure of all raw materials extracted from the domestic territory per year, plus all physical imports, minus all physical exports.
Generally, the material consumption is highly uneven across the different world regions. In terms of material footprint, the world’s wealthiest countries consume 10 times as much as the poorest and twice the global average.
Based on the total urban DMC, Eastern Asia leads the world in material consumption, with China consuming more than half of the world’s aluminum and concrete.
Major Global Regions | 2010 Material Consumption (billion tonnes) | 2050P Material Consumption (billion tonnes) | % total urban DMC change (2010-2050P) |
---|---|---|---|
Africa | 2.0 | 17.7 | 792% |
Southern Asia | 2.7 | 8.6 | 223% |
South-Eastern Asia | 2.0 | 5.6 | 180% |
Central and Western Asia | 1.9 | 4.7 | 151% |
Oceania | 1.1 | 2.6 | 136% |
Eastern Asia | 9.0 | 19.2 | 113% |
South and Central America | 6.5 | 11.1 | 71% |
Europe | 8.3 | 10.4 | 25% |
North America | 7.7 | 9.0 | 17% |
World | 41.1 | 88.8 | 116% |
According to the UN, the bulk of urban growth will happen in the cities of the Global South, particularly in China, India, and Nigeria.
Consumption in Asia is set to increase as the continent hosts the majority of the world’s megacities—cities housing more than 10 million people.
However, the biggest jump in the next decades will happen in Africa. The continent is expected to double in population by 2050, with material consumption jumping from 2 billion tonnes to 17.7 billion tonnes per year.
A Resource-Efficient Future
Global urban DMC is already at a rate of 8–17 tonnes per capita per year.
With the world population expected to swell by almost two and a half billion people by 2050, new and existing cities must accommodate many of them.
This could exacerbate existing problems like pollution and carbon emissions, but it could equally be an opportunity to develop the low-carbon and resource-efficient cities of the future.
-
Real Assets3 years ago
Prove Your Metal: Top 10 Strongest Metals on Earth
-
Real Assets1 year ago
Visualizing China’s Dominance in Rare Earth Metals
-
Electrification9 months ago
Ranked: The Top 10 EV Battery Manufacturers
-
Misc1 year ago
All the World’s Metals and Minerals in One Visualization
-
Real Assets1 year ago
What is a Commodity Super Cycle?
-
Real Assets1 year ago
How the World’s Top Gold Mining Stocks Performed in 2020
-
Misc9 months ago
All the Metals We Mined in One Visualization
-
Real Assets2 years ago
Visualizing the Life Cycle of a Mineral Discovery