The International Energy Agency in Paris said that China, India, Russia and the Middle East for the first time will consume more crude oil than the U.S., burning 20.67 million barrels a day this year, an increase of 4.4 percent.

Bloomberg reported that economic growth of more than 8 percent in China and India, coupled with increasing car ownership among the countries’ combined populations of 2.45 billion people, will more than compensate for falling U.S. demand. Oil use worldwide will increase 2 percent this year to 20.38 million barrels daily because of growth in emerging markets.

Oil demand in both China and India will rise by 4.7 percent, according to the IEA. China, the world’s second-biggest energy user, will consume 7.89 million barrels of oil a day this year. India will use 2.92 million barrels of oil a day in 2008, more than is pumped by OPEC member Venezuela.

Emerging markets burn a fraction of the energy of the U.S., leaving room for growth. The 2.45 billion people in China and India used only half as much crude as 301 million Americans last year. The average person in China consumed less than 20 percent as much energy as the average American in 2005, according to U.S. Energy Department. In India, energy use is less than 10 percent of America on a per-capita basis.