According to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), nearly a third of all renewable energy technology jobs in 2021 will be in the solar photovoltaic industry.

The solar industry added 300,000 jobs to 4.3 million in 2021, continuing to hold the highest share of jobs in renewable energy technology.

As a major manufacturer of photovoltaic equipment and the largest market for solar installation, China's share of global photovoltaic employment increased to 63 percent from 58 percent in 2020, with a total of about 2.7 million jobs, according to the report released in collaboration with the International Labor Organization. Manufacturing activity has created 1.6 million PV jobs in China.

Last year, China had 2.7 million solar jobs

Last year, the number of workers in the United States rose 9 percent to 255,000. The US has recovered from its 2020 slump. Japan continues to reduce its workforce in the solar industry, with 151,000 jobs expected in 2021, down from 220,000 in 2020.

Japan lost its third place to the booming Indian market. Last year, India's solar industry created 217,000 jobs.

The other countries with the top 10 solar jobs last year were Bangladesh, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Vietnam and Australia, which together accounted for 87 percent of the global total, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

A recent report by SolarPower Europe, a trade body, noted that while Poland is not the largest regional market in terms of installed capacity, it has the largest solar workforce in Europe, ahead of Germany.

Asia accounted for 79% of global PV jobs in 2021, reflecting the region's dominance in solar manufacturing and strong development volumes. This is followed by the Americas at 7.7% (down from 9% in 2020), Europe at 6.6% (with the EU at 5.5%), and the rest of the world at 4.9%.

'To safeguard global jobs and other socio-economic benefits, more countries around the world need to pursue policies that boost domestic capacity,' said IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera and ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

In addition, the report Outlines' encouraging 'progress towards gender equality in the workforce, with the solar industry outperforming the renewables industry as a whole. But the report also shows that more needs to be done to promote women's participation at all levels of the industry.