Europe’s Natural Gas Demand Falls by 7.4% in 2023
Consumption fell in 21 of the 27 EU countries
In 2023, natural gas demand in the European Union decreased by 7.4% to a total of 12.72 million terajoules, the lowest in the history of aggregate statistics, i.e. since 2008. This is the second consecutive decline, with demand falling 13.3% in 2022.
This data is published by the European Union’s statistical service Eurostat, which explains how the decline was affected by “measures set out in Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1369 on coordinated measures to reduce gas demand under the REPowerEU plan to end the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels, as well as the ongoing energy crisis and rising energy prices.”
The result is a decrease in gas consumption in the main EU countries, in particular, Germany recorded a 3.8% decrease compared to 2022 (2.96 million terajoules), Italy recorded –10% (2.35 million terajoules), and France showed –11.7% (1.36 million), with overall consumption decreasing in 21 of the 27 countries of the Union. The exceptions are Finland (+25.6%), Sweden (+11.1%), Poland (+5.3%), Malta (+4.5%), Denmark (+1.1%), and Croatia (+0.8%).
