China overtook the US last year to become the world’s biggest energy user, the International Energy Agency revealed on Monday.

Beijing’s new status is expected to make it even more influential in global energy markets, in determining prices and how it is used.

China clinched the top slot more quickly than had been expected because the US has over the past decade far outpaced China in using energy more efficiently. On a per capita basis, the US still uses far more energy than China and remains less efficient than Europe.

Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist, said: “In the 2000, the US consumed twice as much energy as China, now China consumes more than the US.” He noted that the US had improved the efficiency with which it uses energy by 2.5 per cent annually during that time, while China managed only a 1.7 per cent annual improvement. More from the Financial Times here.