Measurement of the energy use dispersed through international trade is crucial in the age of global value chains. This study traces international energy flows, presents the stylized facts, and analyses the major driving factors of energy flows. The findings of this study show that 20% of global energy is transmitted through global value chains and there is large energy imbalance between economies. The gravity model illustrates that energy transfers between home and host countries increase with economic size, a shared border, a same language, and a similar legal system, and decrease with geographic distance. However, distance is becoming less significant in transmitting energy due to the increasing complexity of global value chains. Global value chains have altered how the world consumes energy directly and indirectly, thus must be taken into consideration by both environmental and trade policies aiming at encouraging sustainable development, equity, and energy conservation. •World energy use is redistributed via international trade in the global value chains (GVCs) era.•Energy embodied in GVCs has increased rapidly in recent decades.•The net energy transfer of developed economies is positive while that of developing economies is negative.•The patterns of energy flow vary across different trading routes in GVCs.