Demand for natural gas among European Union member states has been declining for two consecutive years, new data from Eurostat has found.
At EU level, last year saw demand fall by 7.4%, with overall demand totalling 12.72 million terajoules. This is the lowest demand recorded since monthly data began to be collected in 2008.
It also follows on from a 13.3% year-on-year decrease recoded in 2022.
In terms of the biggest consumers of natural gas, Germany’s demand stood at 2.96 million terajoules last year (3.8% lower than in 2022), while Italy’s demand was 2.35 million terajoules (a 10.0% decline) and France 1.36 million terajoules (a 11.7% decline).
Across the bloc, reductions in natural gas have been influenced by measures outlined in the Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1369 on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas, which forms part of the REPowerEU energy plan.
Increased demand
Demand decreased in a total of 21 EU member states, however some countries also reported an increase in demand, Eurostat noted.
Demand for natural gas was up 25.6% in Finland, with Sweden (+11.1%), Poland (+5.3%), Malta (+4.5%), Denmark (+1.1%) and Croatia (+0.8%) also seeing demand levels rise.
Demand for natural gas by EU member state, in terajoules (April 2024)
| Country | Terajoules (gross calorific value – GCV) |
|---|---|
| Germany | 230,599.440 |
| Italy | 157,746.567 |
| France | 98,913.982 |
| Netherlands | 82,236.003 |
| Spain | 79,970.582 |
| Poland | 60,588.541 |
| Belgium | 44,771.500 |
| Hungary | 21,833.408 |
| Romania | 21,081.000 |
| Austria | 18,960.299 |
| Czechia | 18,564.671 |
| Ireland | 15,956.566 |
| Greece | 14,479.730 |
| Slovakia | 11,938.770 |
| Portugal | 10,315.352 |
| Denmark | 8,257.259 |
| Bulgaria | 8,098.503 |
| Lithuania | 7,536.000 |
| Finland | 6,784.000 |
| Croatia | 6,455.431 |
| Sweden | 3,121.282 |
| Slovenia | 2,846.111 |
| Luxembourg | 2,088.544 |
| Latvia | 1,756.755 |
| Estonia | 1,215.000 |
| Malta | 902.935 |
| Cyprus | 0.000 |
