Structurally, global oil demand is highly concentrated: the two largest economies, China and the US, as the core of global manufacturing and consumer markets, have a significantly larger share of global oil demand (36.8 million barrels per day combined), accounting for more than one-third of total global demand, far exceeding the combined total of the second-ranked eight countries (26.2 million barrels per day).
This difference in demand structure reflects the economic development models of these economies: in China, a large portion of oil consumption flows to manufacturing, logistics, and chemical raw materials; in the US, widespread private car ownership and a high proportion of air and road transportation result in significantly higher energy consumption by residents. Emerging markets such as India and Brazil are still experiencing growth in oil demand, and with industrialization and increased vehicle ownership, they will continue to raise the global crude oil demand baseline; while developed economies such as Germany and Japan, driven by energy transition policies, are seeing a slow downward trend in overall oil consumption.
Saudi Arabia's high consumption is particularly unique: with a population only about a quarter of Japan's, its daily crude oil consumption is higher than Japan's because its domestic petrochemical industry, desalination, and power system are highly dependent on burning crude oil for power generation, and its large-scale oil and gas extraction itself is accompanied by huge self-consumption.
