The International Renewable Energy Agency’s annual employment survey shows that solar energy accounted for more than 43% of global renewable energy sector jobs by 2024.
Global solar employment reached 7.24 million in 2024, up from 7.11 million in 2023, according to analysis by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
IRENAs Annual review of renewable energy and jobsdeveloped in partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO), highlights that solar energy accounts for the lion’s share of renewable energy jobs worldwide. The entire sustainable energy sector directly and indirectly employed 16.6 million people in 2024, an increase from 16.2 million in 2023.
China is responsible for more than 4.2 million, or 58%, of the PV jobs worldwide. This figure is lower than the 4.59 million solar jobs reported in China in 2023, and consists of approximately 2 million jobs in solar manufacturing and 2.2 million jobs in solar construction, installation, operation and maintenance.
India and Brazil rank second and third, with an estimated 384,900 and 323,800 PV jobs, while the United States and Pakistan round out the top five.
Vietnam, Germany, Türkiye, Italy and Japan round out the ten countries with the largest solar job markets. Cumulatively, these ten countries account for approximately 6 million jobs in the solar energy sector, equivalent to 82% of the global total.
IRENA’s analysis adds that Asian countries accounted for 75% of the world’s solar jobs by 2024. Europe accounted for an 11.3% share, while the EU accounted for 10.6%. America held 9.6% of the global labor market, while all other regions accounted for the remaining 3.7%.
While the report highlights that global employment figures will reach new highs in 2024, it also points out that employment growth slowed significantly.
In the report’s foreword, IRENA Director General Francesco La Camera and ILO Director General Gilbert F. Houngbo explained that China reported a lower number of jobs than in 2023 as rising labor productivity and economies of scale helped reduce labor intensity, offsetting increases in other countries.
Despite this decline, China remains home to an estimated 7.29 million renewable energy jobs. Outside China, the report says that job supply imbalances around the world reflect both varying levels of engagement and investment, as well as uneven ability to act, given differing industrial and supply chain structures, technology dependencies and the availability of skilled labor.
Economies of scale, automation and technological innovation, excess equipment production capacity and power grid bottlenecks are highlighted as other factors limiting employment growth.
The report also points to a lack of diversity as an ongoing factor in the renewable energy labor market. IRENA’s report on sustainable energy and gender, published in October, shows that women hold 32% of full-time jobs in the renewable energy sector. Although this percentage is higher than the oil and gas (23%) and nuclear energy (25%) sectors, the percentage lags behind the global occupational average of 43.4%. IRENA’s latest report adds that people with disabilities are only just beginning to gain more opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
La Camera and Houngbo emphasized that workforce development is increasingly important for the success of the energy transition.
“The report highlights the need to expand education, employment and career prospects for populations at risk of being left behind,” the pair wrote. “It is critical to understand that, beyond issues of equality and fairness, the industry cannot overlook their talents, insights and perspectives. It is the human element – the workers across a broad spectrum of professions and with a wide range of skills – that will ultimately ensure the success of the energy transition.”
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