The annual growth rates of new installed photovoltaic capacity worldwide have been very high over the past 20 years and have consistently been in the double-digit percentage range. In the years 2020 to 2023, the average was just under 40 %. This steady growth has made solar energy one of the main pillars of the energy transition.

For many years, Germany was far and away the leader in terms of installed capacity. In 2010, almost half of the world's installed photovoltaic capacity was located in Germany. Due to the influence of German politics, it has since relinquished this leading role, as the German solar market collapsed in the years after 2012. As a result, it was only of secondary importance in an international comparison. Other markets such as China, Japan and the USA developed much more dynamically, with Japan already overtaking Germany in 2016 with 42 gigawatts of installed capacity. At the same time, the rapid expansion in China began to take effect: In 2015, Germany gave up its leading position to China, which had still been behind Japan in 2010. In 2023, almost 400 gigawatts of capacity were installed worldwide. China accounted for around 250 gigawatts of this, making it responsible for more than 60 % of global solar growth.

Vietnam offers another example of the influence of subsidy policy. Photovoltaics hardly played a role there for many years. In 2018, the installed capacity was still 0.1 gigawatts. In just two years, 16.5 gigawatts were added, catapulting Vietnam into the top 10. However, grid expansion was unable to keep pace with the rapid growth, which is why additions dropped significantly again in the following years. Nevertheless, the share of solar power is now over 10 % in the country.

The gigawatt limit of installed photovoltaic capacity worldwide was already exceeded in 2000. The terawatt limit, in other words 1000 GW, fell in 2022. If below-average annual growth of 20 % continues in the coming years, one terawatt of new annual installations can be expected around 2030. The global stock would then have grown to around 6,000 gigawatts.

The following table and graph show the installed photovoltaic capacity published for over 20 countries as part of the IEA PVPS statistics.

Country	20221	20232	2024
China	414,1	662,0
USA	141,6	169,5
India	79,0	95,3
Japan	85,1	91,4
Germany	67,3	81,4
Spain	30,0	37,6
Brazil	23,6	35,5
Australia	30,4	34,6
Italy	25,1	30,3
South Korea	24,3	27,8
Netherlands	18,2	22,73
Vietnam	18,5	19,54
France	19,7	22,73
Great Britain	15,2	17,24
World Total	1183	1581

The 10 largest installed capacities are highlighted in green.

Country	20191	20202	20213
China	204,7	253,4	308,5
USA	75,9	93,2	123,0
Japan	63,0	71,4	78,2
India	42,8	47,4	60,4
Germany	49,2	53,9	59,2
Australia	14,6	20,2	25,4
Italy	20,8	21,7	22,6
South Korea	11,2	15,9	21,5
Spain	9,94	13,65	18,5
Vietnam	5,3	16,4	17,4
France	9,9	10,9	16,5
Netherlands	6,94	9,95	14,3
Great Britain	13,3	13,5	13,86
Sum of Top 10	505,4	607	734,7
Share of Top 10	80,6%	80,0%	79,9%
World Total	627	758,9	945,7

Country	2016	2017	2018
China	78,1	131,1	175,4
USA	41,0	51,8	62,5
Japan	42,1	49,5	56,2
Germany	40,7	42,5	45,5
Italy	19,3	19,7	20,1
Great Britain	11,5	12,8	13,1
Australia	5,9	7,2	11,0
France	7,2	8,1	9,0
South Korea	4,5	5,8	8,1
Türkiye	1,2	4,2	7,1
Spain	5,2	5,4	5,7
Netherlands	2,1	2,9	4,4
Belgium	3,6	3,9	4,3
Mexico	0,3	0,5	4,1
Thailand	2,4	3,1	3,4
Canada	2,7	2,9	3,1
South Africa	2,3	2,3	2,4
Chile	1,1	1,8	2,4
Switzerland	1,7	1,9	2,1
Austria	1,1	1,3	1,4
Israel	0,88	0,95	1,36
Denmark	0,88	0,95	1,36
Malaysia	0,31	0,36	86
Portugal	0,52	0,59	0,67
Sweden	0,21	0,27	0,43
Finnland	0,04	0,08	0,13
Norway	0,03	0,04	0,07
Others	28,6	47,2	66,5
World Total	303,5	409,1	512,3

Country	2013	2014	2015
China	17,73	28,37	43,52
Germany	36,71	37,90	39,22
Japan	13,59	23,33	34,15
USA	12,08	18,32	25,82
Italy	18,20	18,61	18,91
Great Britain	2,93	5,53	9,61
France	4,75	5,70	6,60
Spain	5,10	5,13	5,18
Australia	3,28	4,13	5,06
South Korea	1,56	2,48	3,61
Belgium	3,15	3,27	3,39
Canada	1,21	1,84	2,51
Netherlands	0,65	1,00	1,52
Thailand	0,31	1,39	1,49
Switzerland	0,76	1,06	1,39
Austria	0,63	0,79	0,94
Israel	0,48	0,68	0,89
Denmark	0,56	0,61	0,78
Portugal	0,30	0,42	0,45
Türkiye	0,03	0,06	0,26
Malaysia	0,14	0,20	0,25
Mexico	0,11	0,18	0,25
Sweden	0,04	0,08	0,13
Norway	0,01	0,01	0,02
Finnland	0,01	0,01	0,02
Norway	0,01	0,01	0,01
Others	13,10	15,64	20,37
World Total	138,2	178,2	228,3

Country	2010	2011	2012
Germany	18,01	25,92	34,08
Italy	3,61	13,14	16,80
USA	2,02	3,94	7,13
China	0,79	3,49	7,05
Japan	3,62	4,91	6,63
Spain	4,23	4,69	5,02
France	1,21	2,97	4,09
Belgium	1,10	2,16	2,89
Australia	0,58	1,44	2,49
Great Britain	0,10	1,00	1,75
South Korea	0,65	0,73	1,03
Canada	0,28	0,56	0,80
Switzerland	0,11	0,21	0,44
Denmark	0,01	0,02	0,41
Thailand	0,05	0,24	0,39
Austria	0,10	0,19	0,27
Netherlands	0,09	0,14	0,28
Israel	0,07	0,19	0,27
Portugal	0,13	0,18	0,24
Mexico	0,03	0,04	0,05
Malaysia	0,00	0,00	0,03
Sweden	0,01	0,02	0,02
Türkiye	0,01	0,01	0,01
Norway	0,01	0,01	0,01
Others	2,98	4,66	8,66
World Total	39,76	70,86	100,84

Country	2007	2008	2009
Germany	4,17	6,12	10,57
Spain	0,70	3,69	3,74
Japan	1,92	2,14	2,63
Italy	0,10	0,50	1,28
USA	0,46	0,75	1,19
Belgium	0,04	0,11	0,67
South Korea	0,08	0,36	0,52
France	0,08	0,10	0,19
China	0,09	0,10	0,29
Australia	0,07	0,10	0,19
Portugal	0,02	0,06	0,11
Canada	0,03	0,03	0,10
Switzerland	0,04	0,05	0,07
Netherlands	0,05	0,05	0,06
Austria	0,03	0,03	0,05
Thailand	0,03	0,03	0,04
Mexico	0,02	0,02	0,03
Great Britain	0,02	0,02	0,02
Israel	0	0	0,02
Sweden	0,01	0,01	0,01
Norway	0,01	0,01	0,01
Türkiye	0	0	0,01
Denmark	0	0	0,01
Others	0,03	0,11	0,75
World Total	7,97	14,53	22,73

Country	2004	2005	2006
Germany	1105	2056	2899
Japan	1132	1422	1708
USA	111	190	295
Spain	12	28	138
China	54	62	72
Australia	47	55	64
Italy	31	37	50
Netherlands	43	45	48
South Korea	9	14	36
France	24	26	36
Thailand	0	24	30
Switzerland	23	27	30
Austria	21	24	26
Mexico	18	19	20
Canada	14	17	20
Great Britain	8	11	14
Norway	7	7	8
Sweden	4	4	5
Portugal	2	2	4
Denmark	0	3	3
Finnland	1	1	2
Türkiye	1	1	1
Others	21	21	22
World Total	2688	4096	5533

Country	2001	2002	2003
Japan	453	637	860
Germany	207	324	435
China	16	34	44
Australia	30	35	41
Netherlands	16	22	40
Italy	20	22	26
France	14	17	21
Switzerland	18	19	21
Mexico	15	16	17
Canada	9	10	12
Norway	6,2	6,4	6,6
South Korea	0	5	6
Great Britain	3	4	6
Sweden	3	3	4
Spain	2	4	4
Portugal	0	0	2
Finnland	0	0	1
Others	0	2,1	10,1
World Total	810	1160	1557

Country	1998	1999	2000
Japan	133	209	330
Germany	22	30	89
Australia	21	23	26
Italy	18	18	19
Switzerland	11	13	15
Mexico	12	13	14
China	0	0	11
France	8	9	11
Netherlands	1	5	9
Canada	4	6	7
Norway	0	6	6
Sweden	2	3	3
Spain	1	2	2
Great Britain	1	1	2
Others	0,3	0	0,1
World Total	234	338	544

Country	1995	1996	1997
Japan	43	60	91
Australia	13	16	18
Italy	16	16	17
Germany	7	10	16
Mexico	9	10	11
Switzerland	7	8	10
France	3	4	6
Canada	2	3	3
Sweden	2	2	2
Netherlands	0	1	1
Spain	1	1	1
Great Britain	0,4	0,4	0,6
World Total	103	131	177

Country	1992	1993	1994
Japan	19	24	31
Italy	8	12	14
Australia	7	9	11
Mexico			9
Switzerland	5	6	7
Germany	3	4	6
France	2	2	2
Canada	1	1	2
Sweden	1	1	1
Spain	0	0	1
World Total	46	60	84