Figures published c. 2005 by the World Bank. The Millennium Development Goals program concluded in 2015; this site is preserved as a historical record.
Energy use (kilogram oil equivalent) per $1000 GDP (PPP) is commercial energy use measured in units of oil equivalent per $1,000 of GDP converted from national currencies using purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factors.
Target 9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
The indicator provides a measure of energy intensity (it is the inverse of energy efficiency). Differences in this ratio over time and across countries reflect structural changes in the economy, changes in the energy efficiency of particular sectors and differences in fuel mixes. In principle, the lower the ratio, the better the energy efficiency.
Total commercial energy consumption is converted to metric ton oil equivalence using standard tables. GDP data must be converted using PPP tables so that real output is compared with real energy input. National total GDP is deflated (currently to 1995 US PPP dollars) by reference to PPP tables derived from the International Comparisons Program. Energy input is divided by GDP to derive the ratio.
Energy consumption is calculated from national energy balance sheets. Real GDP comes from the national income accounts deflated by reference to PPP tables prepared by the International Comparisons Program. Traditional fuels, such as animal and vegetable waste, fuel wood and charcoal, are excluded.
Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies, 2001, United Nations Division for Sustainable Development (www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/isd.htm).
This is a relatively crude indicator and needs to be broken down by sector of industry to be interpreted.
As the input is commercial energy, it should be compared with the output from that energy, deflated by the PPPs relevant to that output. Changes in the ratio over time are influenced almost as much by changes in the structure of the economy as by changes in sectoral energy intensities.