H. Yoo
Research expert covering South Korea
Lithium-ion batteries - statistics & facts
Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized our everyday lives, laying the foundations for a wireless, interconnected, and fossil fuel-free society. Their potential is, however, yet to be reached. It is projected that between 2022 and 2030 the global demand for lithium-ion batteries will increase almost sevenfold, reaching 4.7 terawatt-hours in 2030. Much of this growth can be attributed to the rising popularity of electric vehicles (EVs). EVs predominantly rely on lithium-ion batteries for power and accounted for over 80 percent of the global lithium-ion battery demand in 2024.
Consequently, the lithium-ion battery market size is expected to significantly grow as well. The market could reach the size of around 480 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.Â
China is winning the battery manufacturing race
The growing demand for lithium-ion batteries is being met with an increase in manufacturing capacity. However, this capacity is not equally distributed around the world. The Asian-Pacific region, including the industry leader China, dominated the global lithium-ion battery production capacity in 2023. China was also the powerhouse of electric vehicle lithium-ion battery manufacturing, producing around 70 percent of batteries that entered the global market in 2023. Not surprisingly, most of the largest gigafactories in the world were located in China and in the United States, the second-largest producer of this energy storage technology.
Although the global battery industry was forecast to experience the largest growth in Europe by 2030, China’s lithium-ion battery capacity was projected to be five times larger than in the U.S. by that year, reaching some six terawatt-hours.
Applications of lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are the more sought-after battery energy storage alternative because of their high energy density, low recharge time, affordable energy cost, and light weight. Nowadays, besides electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are commonly used in devices such as mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, and power tools. It is expected that with improvements in lithium-ion technology and dropping prices of lithium-ion battery packs, the range of applications for lithium-ion batteries will widen.
However, lithium-ion batteries also have downsides. Mining activities for the extraction of the materials used in the production of battery cells pose environmental, social, and governance issues to local communities.
