World Energy Council · World Energy Trilemma Index
World Energy Trilemma Index by country
How well does a country balance secure, affordable and clean energy?
Denmark placed first of the 126 countries compared in 2023, at 83.2, and Niger last, at 27.7. In the middle country the figure was 63.8.
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World Energy Trilemma Index · 2023
Key statistic · Energy
Highest of 126Denmark
83.2012023 · World Energy Council’s rank
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 126 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: User:Aconcagua · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
3Photo: Joonas Lyytinen · CC BY-SA 2.5, greyscale
02Every measured country
World Energy Trilemma Index on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 27.7–52.3
- 52.4–61.5
- 61.6–65.8
- 65.9–76.0
- 76.1–83.2
- No reading in 2023
- Europe
76.6
the middle country, of 37 measured · 49 members
Denmark83.2
Moldova57.2Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
65.7
the middle country, of 21 measured · 48 members
Canada81.0
Honduras52.3Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
62.5
the middle country, of 37 measured · 52 members
Japan75.0
Nepal40.5Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
44.2
the middle country, of 29 measured · 55 members
Mauritius65.3
Niger27.7Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
2 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand79.6
Australia75.7Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
19 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
80.2
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Switzerland82.1
Belgium77.1Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
80.0
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Denmark83.2
Lithuania75.0Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
72.9
the middle country, of 8 measured · 10 members
Czechia78.0Moldova57.2Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Europe
70.5
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Slovenia78.4
North Macedonia59.9Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- South America
67.7
the middle country, of 9 measured · 12 members
Uruguay75.9
Bolivia61.6Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Western Asia
65.4
the middle country, of 15 measured · 19 members
Israel74.1
Iraq52.2Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Asia
64.4
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Japan75.0
Mongolia52.7Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Central America
62.5
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica69.7Honduras52.3Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- South-eastern Asia
60.5
the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members
Singapore70.1
Myanmar46.5Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Asia
50.9
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Sri Lanka60.4Nepal40.5Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Middle Africa
44.7
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Gabon58.8
DR Congo33.5Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Africa
41.6
the middle country, of 9 measured · 19 members
Mauritius65.3
Malawi36.6Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Africa
41.2
the middle country, of 7 measured · 16 members
Ghana47.6Niger27.7Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand79.6Australia75.7Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
3 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago.
Dominican Republic58.1
Jamaica57.3Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan.
Kazakhstan63.4
Tajikistan57.5Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Egypt62.2
Morocco59.6Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada81.0
United States78.9Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Southern Africa
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa.
South Africa57.62 share 51.1
Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
126 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 63.8; a quarter are above 74.3, and a quarter below 57.0. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 126 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a rank shared with another country. Ranks are shared by design: the Council uses dense ranking and states that countries whose scores differ by less than 0.1 share a rank, so 126 countries occupy only 99 positions and Denmark and Sweden are both ranked 1.
Showing 25 of 126 countries
Values for 2023.
05In this edition
World Energy Trilemma Index in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
83.2
Trilemma score (0–100)
Lowest reading
27.7
Trilemma score (0–100)
06The parts of the index
Inside the number
World Energy Council publishes the parts the headline is built from. Each part’s highest and lowest country, and its middle value.
| Part | Highest | Lowest | Middle country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy security126 countries | Canada76.6 |  Lebanon31.4 | 57.7 |
| Energy equity126 countries | 3 countries share 99.9 | Malawi4.3 | 74.4 |
| Environmental sustainability126 countries | Switzerland85.7 |  Trinidad and Tobago34.4 | 66.8 |
07The measure
About World Energy Trilemma Index
The World Energy Trilemma Index scores how well a country balances three goals that pull against each other: energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability. The World Energy Council rates each out of 100 and combines them — all three dimensions are stored beside the overall score.
What the number is: Trilemma score (0–100).
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Energy
“How a country's energy system balances security of supply, affordability and environmental impact — three pressures that trade off against one another.”
- Edition used
- 2023 (data 2023)
- Countries
- 126
- Licence
- Express reuse grant (no Creative Commons licence named)
Moves with
Where World Energy Trilemma Index is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Human Development IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 126 countries in commonρ 0.93
- ND-GAIN Country IndexNotre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 125 countries in commonρ 0.93
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 120 countries in commonρ 0.93
Moves against
Where World Energy Trilemma Index is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Stillbirth RateUN IGME · 125 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Mortality Rate, Ages 5–14UN IGME · 125 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 125 countries in commonρ −0.89
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 333 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The data, edition by edition
10Questions
World Energy Trilemma Index: questions and answers
Which country has the highest World Energy Trilemma Index?
Denmark, at 83.2, among the 126 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the lowest World Energy Trilemma Index?
Niger, at 27.7, among the 126 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the World Energy Trilemma Index cover?
126 in 2023.
What is the world average World Energy Trilemma Index?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 126 compared in 2023, the figure was 63.8.
Is this World Energy Council’s own ranking?
Yes. The rank shown is the one World Energy Council publishes.
How often is the World Energy Trilemma Index published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2023.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Energy Council, under Express reuse grant (no Creative Commons licence named). From the 2023 Index, published as the World Energy Trilemma Report 2024. Seven tracked countries the Council leaves unranked — Barbados, Libya, Syria, Taiwan, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen — are not included. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
World Energy Trilemma Index — World Energy Council
From the 2023 Index, published as the World Energy Trilemma Report 2024. Seven tracked countries the Council leaves unranked — Barbados, Libya, Syria, Taiwan, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen — are not included.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: World Energy Council. World Energy Trilemma Index. London: World Energy Council. Used by permission of the World Energy Council.
Licence: Express reuse grant (no Creative Commons licence named), checked 2026-09-05.
How this page reads the numbers
- The rank is World Energy Council’s own, as published.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Denmark — User:Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
- Finland — Joonas Lyytinen, CC BY-SA 2.5
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). World Energy Trilemma Index by country: World Energy Trilemma Index, data from World Energy Council. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/energy-trilemma