China’s lithium-ion battery shipments reached 1,888.6 GWh in 2025, up 55.5% YoY, an acceleration of 18.6 percentage points from the previous year, accounting for 82.8% of global shipments. On January 15, research firm EVTank, in collaboration with the Ivy Economic Research Institute, released the White Paper for China’s Lithium-Ion Battery Industry in 2026. The data show that global lithium-ion battery shipments totaled 2,280.5 GWh in 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 47.6% and extending the sector’s high-growth trajectory. From a structural perspective, energy storage batteries emerged as the primary driver behind shipments exceeding expectations. Global lithium-ion battery shipments from 2015 to 2025 for Small LIB, EV LIB, and ESS LIB. EVTank said global shipments of energy storage system lithium-ion batteries reached 651.5 GWh in 2025, up 76.2% from a year earlier. Demand growth was particularly pronounced outside China, where both grid-side and end-user energy storage deployment accelerated in tandem, becoming a key force lifting global shipment volumes. At present, the majority of energy storage battery supply continues to come from Chinese manufacturers. In the power battery segment, expansion of the global new energy vehicle market continued to underpin shipment growth. Global shipments of electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries reached 1,495.2 GWh in 2025, up 42.2% year on year. EVTank noted that China’s ongoing vehicle replacement programs, a dense rollout of new models, and a doubling of new energy vehicle exports provided important support for rising power battery demand. China’s NEV exports By contrast, growth in the small battery segment remained relatively moderate. Global shipments of small lithium-ion batteries totaled 133.9 GWh in 2025, an increase of 7.9% from the previous year. However, emerging applications such as AI-enabled devices, humanoid robots and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft are entering an early stage of commercialization and are expected to create new incremental demand for small batteries over the medium term. Looking specifically at China, EVTank data show that lithium-ion battery shipments reached 1,888.6 GWh in 2025, up 55.5% year on year, an acceleration of 18.6 percentage points from the previous year, accounting for 82.8% of global shipments. EVTank attributed the sharp increase not only to domestic demand from new energy vehicles and energy storage, but also to the rapid growth of lithium-ion battery exports, which provided a significant boost to overall shipment volumes. On this basis, EVTank raised its medium- and long-term market outlook. The white paper forecasts that global lithium-ion battery shipments will reach 3,016.3 GWh in 2026 and 6,012.3 GWh by 2030. Forecasted global lithium-ion battery shipments from 2026 to 2030 The 2026 shipment forecast was revised up by 17.3% compared with the previous year’s outlook, with sustained expansion in energy storage battery demand identified as the main growth engine.