Copper, the cornerstone metal in sustainable energy initiatives, plays a crucial role in applications such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other green energy projects. This paper aims to study the evolution and decoupling relationship between copper consumption and economic growth. We first quantified the trends of the Copper Decoupling Index. Utilizing an expanded Kaya identity and logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) decomposition method, the analysis explores the key drivers behind copper consumption. The results are as follows: 1) Developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States have showcased an ideal state of strong decoupling between economic growth and copper consumption, whereas Germany and Japan have generally shown signs of negative or weak decoupling. Conversely, in China, the consumption of copper has experienced negative decoupling growth. 2) During China’s industrialization process, the primary catalyst for changes in copper consumption was the scale effect, while the structural and efficiency effects exerted negative regulatory influences. 3) Recent structural adjustments in China have highlighted the inhibitory impact of structural changes on electricity consumption growth. From 2006–2022, the influence of industrial structural changes on copper consumption has been predominantly governed by negative regulation, with its intensity increasing year by year since 2014. These research findings offer valuable insights for policymakers globally in developing tailored strategies for copper supply and consumption in varying economic growth scenarios.