The number of workers employed by the renewable energy industry keeps growing. In 2018, at least 11 million people around the world held jobs across the renewables sector, from manufacturing and trading to installation.

According to the sixth annual jobs report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, the majority of these jobs are concentrated in China, the European Union, Brazil, and the United States.

The figures show a steady increase over the years. In 2017, there were 10.3 million jobs. This was up from 9.8 million in 2016 and 8.1 million in 2015.

This growth comes at the same time as countries are setting clean energy generation records. The U.K. recently went at least 10 days without generating any coal power, while last month in the U.S. renewable energy generation surpassed coal generation for the first time in history.

11 million people were employed in the renewables industry in 2018. Credit: IRENA.

In the United States, the number of people working in renewables is just under the amount employed by the fossil fuel industry. Last year saw a slight uptick in these jobs, with just over 1.1 million people employed in petroleum fuels, natural gas, coal, and biomass across the country.


According to the IRENA report, solar power remains the top employer within the renewables industry, providing 3.6 million jobs last year, accounting for a third of the entire industry’s workflow. This is in part due to expansion in India and Southeast Asia as well as Brazil. China, however, remains the leading solar employer, representing 61% of all jobs in 2018.

Meanwhile, 2.1 million people worked in the biofuel industry, another 2.1 million jobs were in hydropower, and wind employed 1.2 million people.

A third of all renewable jobs globally, the report states, are held by women. This is compared to a 22% average in the oil and gas industry. However, previous reports have shown that at least in the solar industry in the United States, the majority of jobs still go white men.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that tackling climate change means losing jobs. But as this report shows, in fact the opposite is true.


The findings in IRENA’s latest report support a study released last December by the International Labour Review which found that accelerating the transition to clean energy could add 24 million jobs globally by 2030.

In a press statement Thursday, Francesco La Camera, the director-general of IRENA, said countries are investing in renewables not just because of climate concerns, but also because it makes economic sense.

“Beyond climate goals,” he said, “governments are prioritizing renewables as a driver of low-carbon economic growth in recognition of the numerous employment opportunities created by the transition to renewables.”