South Korea's coal consumption for electricity generation decreased 7 percent in 2019 from a year earlier due to its efforts to cut carbon emissions, a report said Monday.

Asia's fourth-largest economy consumed 94 million tons of coal to generate electricity, compared with 101 million tons a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea Energy Economics Institute.

It marks the second consecutive year of decline. South Korea's coal consumption for power generation rose from 101 million tons in 2016 to 140 million tons in 2017 before going south a year later.

The report, based on data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), also showed global coal consumption for that purpose also falling 1.5 percent on-year to 5.95 billion tons last year.

US coal consumption for power generation shrank 14.7 percent last year, while China's consumption inched up 0.2 percent. Beijing is the world's largest coal consumer.

The South Korean think tank attributed the downturn in coal consumption to a global trend to reduce dependence on coal for electricity generation.

Seoul is seeking to drastically trim its reliance on coal-fired power generation in an effort to help reduce greenhouse gases and fine dust.

Meanwhile, the IEA data showed the world's overall coal consumption dropping 1.2 percent on-year to 5,410 megatons of coal equivalent, with China taking up 53 percent of the total. (Yonhap)