Africa has firmly established itself as the fastest growing solar market in the world, driven by rapid capacity additions, strong policy support, and the urgent need to expand electricity access.
Annual solar installations in Africa increased sharply from about 1.2 GW in 2017 to nearly 14.8 GW in 2025, representing more than a twelvefold rise in less than a decade. This rapid expansion underscores Africa’s transformation from a nascent solar market into a key growth engine for the global solar industry, according to the latest AFSIA report.
Growth accelerated significantly after 2021. Annual installations more than tripled from around 3.0 GW in 2021 to over 9.2 GW in 2023, and continued to expand strongly through 2024 and 2025. Between 2017 and 2025, Africa added a cumulative 54.3 GW of solar capacity, reflecting sustained momentum across utility-scale, commercial, and distributed solar projects.
Africa Outpaces Mature Solar Markets
Compared with other regions, Africa’s solar growth rate clearly outpaces more mature markets. While China, Europe, Asia, and North America continue to add large volumes of new solar capacity, their expansion is increasingly incremental. Africa, by contrast, shows the steepest upward trajectory, supported by rising energy demand, declining solar technology costs, favorable regulatory frameworks in key countries, and the pressing need to improve energy access for millions of people.
Since 2021, Africa has delivered consistently strong growth, recording annual increases of 22 percent in 2021, 38 percent in 2022, and a sharp acceleration of 122 percent in 2023. Growth remained robust in 2024 and 2025. With a compound annual growth rate of 49 percent since 2021, Africa is scaling faster than any other solar region globally.
China Retains Leadership in Absolute Installations
China remains the world’s largest solar market and continues to dominate global solar additions in absolute terms. The country experienced sharp swings in annual growth, with contractions in 2018 and 2019 followed by strong rebounds in 2020 and 2022. An exceptional surge in installations was recorded in 2023. Although growth moderated in 2024 and 2025, China still achieved a strong CAGR of 56 percent since 2021, reinforcing its leadership in large-scale solar deployment.
Regional Solar Growth Trends
Asia recorded more moderate and uneven growth, reflecting its mature and diverse markets. After steady expansion through 2019 and 2020, growth slowed in 2022 before rebounding strongly in 2023. A slight contraction in 2025 points to increasing saturation in some countries. Asia’s CAGR since 2021 stands at 15 percent.
Europe experienced rapid expansion in 2018 and 2019, followed by strong momentum through 2022 as energy security concerns accelerated solar investments. However, growth cooled in 2024 and 2025, resulting in a CAGR of 18 percent since 2021. This suggests a shift toward more stable, policy-driven growth.
Latin America and the Caribbean posted healthy but uneven growth, with strong gains in 2018, 2021, and 2022, followed by slower momentum and a decline in 2025. The region’s CAGR since 2021 is 9 percent, indicating steady but measured expansion.
The Middle East showed high volatility but strong long-term momentum, driven by large, project-based installations. Despite a slowdown in 2025, the region achieved a CAGR of 53 percent since 2021, second only to China.
North America experienced sharp year-to-year fluctuations linked to policy changes and project timing. After a steep decline in 2021, growth recovered strongly in 2023 and 2024, resulting in a CAGR of 17 percent since 2021.
Oceania remained relatively stable but slow-growing. After strong growth in 2018, annual installation rates have been modest or negative in recent years, leading to a CAGR of 6 percent since 2021.
Global Solar Installations Reach Record Levels
Globally, solar installations have expanded at an unprecedented pace. Total annual installations rose from about 86 GW in 2017 to more than 523 GW in 2025, highlighting the rapid scale-up of solar worldwide. In 2025 alone, an estimated 618 GWp of solar capacity was added globally, marking another record year.
The pace of growth remains striking. Solar installations in 2025 accounted for roughly 30 percent of all historically installed solar capacity, a trend that has continued for the past five years. As a result, global installed solar capacity has almost tripled since 2021 and nearly quadrupled since 2020.
Although global growth moderated in 2025, the sector still recorded a growth rate of 23 percent, compared with 44 percent in 2024 and 46 percent in 2023. The overall global CAGR since 2021 stands at a strong 35 percent, driven primarily by rapid expansion in Africa, China, and the Middle East.
Africa’s Rising Role in the Global Solar Industry
Within this global expansion, Africa stands out as the fastest growing solar region, signaling its emergence as a critical pillar of future solar growth. As investment flows increase and project pipelines deepen, Africa is set to play an increasingly central role in shaping the next phase of the global solar industry.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH