Gas and electricity market statistics.
Date: 2008-01-02
Institutions: Eurostat
Subjects: EU Member State, EU statistics, Iceland, Norway, energy consumption, energy production, export, import, liberalisation of the market, price of energy

Chapter1_Energy.qxp  26/10/2007  09:11  Page 2

S t a t i s t i c a l   b o o k s

Gas and electricity market statistics

with CD-ROM

2007 edition

an Commission
EuropEE an Commission

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Chapter1_Energy.qxp  26/10/2007  09:11  Page 2

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Table of  contents

Introduction

1. Production and installed capacity

1.1 Electricity production

1.1.1 Total electricity production

1.1.2 Electricity production from conventional thermal power plants 

1.1.3 Electricity production from nuclear power plants

1.1.4 Electricity production from hydro-electric power plants 

1.1.5 Electricity production from wind turbines 

1.1.6 Electricity production from geothermal power plants 

1.2 Gas production

1.3 Installed capacity of electricity-generating power plants

1.3.1 Total installed capacity

1.3.2 Installed capacity of conventional thermal power plants 

1.3.3 Installed capacity of nuclear power plants

1.3.4 Installed capacity of hydro-electric power plants

1.3.5 Installed capacity of electricity-generating wind turbines

1.3.6 Installed capacity of geothermal power plants

2. Consumption 

2.1 Electricity consumption

2.1.1 Overview

2.1.2 Electricity consumption of industry

2.1.3 Electricity consumption of the transport sector

2.1.4 Electricity consumption of households and services

2.2 Natural gas consumption

2.2.1 Total consumption of natural gas

2.2.2 Natural gas consumption by the industry

2.2.3 Natural gas consumption by the transport sector

2.2.4 Natural gas consumption by households and services

2.3 Natural gas input to conventional thermal power stations

3. Import and Export

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Electricity trading

3.3 Natural gas trade and dependency

4. Prices and taxes

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Prices and taxes for electricity

4.2.1 Prices and taxes for electricity consumed in households

4.2.2 Prices and taxes for industrial electricity consumption

4.3 Prices and taxes for natural gas 

4.3.1 Prices and taxes for natural gas used by domestic consumers

4.3.2 Prices and taxes for natural gas used by industrial customers

Symbols and abbreviations

1

3

4

4

7

8

10

11

12

13

17

17

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

26

30

33

34

36

36

41

42

43

44

47

48

49

53

59

60

61

61

65

67

67

71

73

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Introduction

Introduction

How have gas and electricity production and consumption evolved over the last 10 years in the
EU? Is the share of wind energy in electricity production still growing? To what degree are Member
States  dependent  on  their  neighbours  energy  for?  What  were  price  trends  for  households  and
industry? What is the proportion of taxes paid on electricity in the individual Member States?

The  third  edition  of  Gas  and  electricity  market  statistics  attempts  to  answer  these  and  other
questions by giving a basic statistical overview of the electricity and gas markets in the 27 Member
States  of  the  European  Union.  Where  possible,  data  for  the  Candidate  Countries,  Norway  and
Iceland are also included.

Four sections make up the publication: production and installed capacity (Chapter 1), consumption
(Chapter 2), import and export (Chapter 3) and, finally, prices and taxes (Chapter 4).

Readers should note that the consumption figures presented in Chapter 2 look at final electricity
and  natural  gas  consumption,  and  exclude  the  consumption  of  the  energy  sector  with  the
exception of chapter 3 related to gas. In addition, caution should be exercised when interpreting
the data on dependency and trade in Chapter 3 which covers trade in electricity and natural gas.
Countries  importing  energy  may  give  the  impression  of  being  dependent  on  foreign  suppliers.
However, importing electricity is often a deliberate, economically motivated choice rather than a
necessity.

Against a background of liberalisation of the EU electricity and gas markets and consequently, an
increasing number of retailers and type of supply-contract, it should be noted that price information
shown is based on representative figures as reported by national authorities.

The  CD-ROM  accompanying  this  publication  offers  information  concerning  the  collection,
compilation and harmonisation of electricity and gas statistics, including notably energy balance
sheets,  methodological  information  concerning  the  electricity  and  gas  price  systems  and  price
indications  according  to  standard  consumer  categories.  Also,  as  certain  aspects  of  statistical
reporting are governed by EU legislation, relevant EU Directives have been included.

Internationally agreed concepts and definitions apply throughout the publication. Methodological
explanations can easily be retrieved from the special energy-related section of CODED, Eurostat's
Concepts and Definitions Database. 
(http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/dsis/coded/info/data/coded/en/Theme9.htm).

The latest available data from the Eurostat reference database, NewCronos, have been used for
this publication. The time frame covered is 1990-2005 for quantitative data (Chapter 1 to 3) and
1997-2007 for price data (Chapter 4). More detailed data and updates are available free of charge
from the online database (www.europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat).



1

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Project management:

John Görten, Eurostat Unit G4 Energy statistics

Project management assistant:

Emmanuel Clément, Eurostat Unit G4 Energy statistics

Internal reviewers:

Peter Tavoularidis, Eurostat Unit G4 Energy statistics

Publication management:

Jelle Bosch, Sogeti Luxembourg SA

Data compilation:

Jelle Bosch, Sogeti Luxembourg SA
Xanthippi Kiriazi, Sogeti Luxembourg SA

Desktop publishing:

Céline Lagrost, Sogeti Luxembourg SA

Language:

Attachment:

English

CD ROM with ancillary and historical data

Contact point for further information:

estat-central-support@ec.europa.eu

URL for more detailed information:

www.europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat

Pictures: Central audiovisual Service from the European Commission and OPOCE. 

2

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1. Production and Installed capacity

1. PRODUCTION AND INSTALLED CAPACITY

1.1 Electricity production 

1.1.1 Total electricity production 

Looking  at  the  breakdown  of  electricity  production  within
the  EU-27  in  2005,  conventional  thermal  energy  was
clearly the main electricity source, accounting for 57.2% of
gross electricity production (see Figure 1.1). 

The second largest source was nuclear energy, which with
30.2%  generated  almost  a  third  of  gross  electricity
production.  Together, 
two  sources  provided
these 
approximately 87% of the total, with the remainder of about
13% coming from hydro power (10.3%) - the third largest
source - wind (2.1%) and geothermal energy (0.2%). 

Comparing this breakdown with the picture in 1990, there
has  not  been  much  change  in  the  shares  of  nuclear  and
conventional  thermal  energy,  with  the  former  slightly
decreasing  (-0.6  percentage  points)  and  the  latter
remaining the same. 

However, what is perhaps more interesting are the relative
changes  recorded  for  the  other  energy  sources.  Wind
energy,  despite 
in  electricity
generation,  went  from  being  practically  non-existent  in
1990 to providing 2.1% of electricity production by 2005. 

its  very  small  share 

Geothermal  energy  slightly  increased  its  share  over  this
period.  In  contrast,  the  share  of  hydro  power  (strongly
dependent on rainfall in a particular year) fell.

Figure 1.1: Gross electricity production, share by type of  generation, EU-27

1990

2005

Nuclear
30.8%

Geothermal
0.1%

Wind
0.0%

Hydro
11.9%

Convent.
thermal
57.2%

Convent.
thermal
57.2%

Nuclear
30.2%

Geothermal
0.2%

Wind
2.1%

Hydro
10.3%

Source: Eurostat

Total  gross  electricity  generation  (measured  in  gigawatt
hours)  increased  between  1990  and  2005  by  28%  in  the
EU-27 and by slightly more (32%) in the EU-15 (see Table
1.2). Compared to 2004, electricity production in the EU-27

in 2005 stood 0.7% higher. Moreover, looking at the annual
data,  not  all  of  which  are  shown  here,  this  growth  was
generally constant from one year to the next.

4

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Table 1.2: Total gross electricity generation (GWh)

1. Production and Installed capacity

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

2 583 602

2 732 746

3 021 679

3 216 041

3 288 546 3 310 401

2 157 995

2 328 104

2 601 312

2 762 884

2 831 722 2 848 272

70 845

42 141

62 559

25 821

74 429

41 789

60 847

36 655

83 894

40 924

73 466

36 049

84 616

42 600

83 227

46 180

85 441

87 025

41 621

44 366

84 333

82 578

40 432

36 276

549 944

536 244

571 551

599 470

616 785

620 300

17 181

14 521

35 002

151 838

420 744

216 890

1 974

6 648

28 405

1 381

28 470

1 100

71 970

50 294

8 693

17 880

41 551

167 330

493 897

241 466

2 473

3 979

13 898

1 241

34 112

1 632

81 071

56 590

8 513

24 003

53 843

225 153

541 188

276 611

3 370

4 136

11 424

1 175

35 191

1 917

89 615

61 822

10 159

25 225

58 471

262 860

566 959

293 884

4 053

3 975

19 488

3 612

34 145

2 236

96 775

60 105

10 304

10 205

25 575

25 357

59 346

60 020

280 007

294 077

573 786

575 365

303 322

303 699

4 201

4 689

4 377

4 905

4 145

4 129

33 708

35 755

2 216

2 240

100 769

100 220

64 156

65 718

136 311

138 993

145 183

151 631

154 159

156 936

28 501

64 309

12 442

24 067

54 364

146 917

318 963

8 693

57 543

4 510

33 265

59 266

12 654

26 306

64 064

148 379

334 042

8 863

86 247

4 981

43 765

51 934

13 624

30 685

69 989

145 585

377 069

10 702

124 922

7 684

46 855

56 645

13 820

31 178

84 230

135 435

398 207

12 670

140 581

8 500

45 108

46 578

56 482

59 413

15 271

15 117

30 567

31 455

85 817

70 549

151 727

158 435

395 306

400 524

13 320

12 449

150 698

161 956

8 623

8 686

121 848

123 011

143 028

107 405

110 699

138 108

Change
2004-2005
(%)

0.7

0.6

1.9

6.6

-2.1

-10.3

0.6

-1.0

-0.9

1.1

5.0

0.3

0.1

4.2

4.6

-0.4

6.1

1.1

-0.5

2.4

1.8

3.3

5.2

-1.0

2.9

-17.8

4.4

1.3

-6.5

7.5

0.7

24.8

19 273

14 782

-23.3

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

It  should  however  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  average
growth rates for the EU as a whole mask diverging trends
at national level: from increases of +199% in Luxembourg,
+122%  in  Cyprus,  and  +104%  in  Malta  to  declines  in  the
Baltic States -Lithuania (-48%), Estonia (-41%) and Latvia
(-26%) - over the period from 1990 to 2005.

Looking at the short-term development between 2004 and
2005,  a  number  of  Member  States  diverged  from  the  EU
trend:  whereas  Bulgaria,  Hungary,  Romania  and  Spain
increased  production  by  over  5%,  Lithuania  saw  its  total
generation drop by 23.3%, Finland by 17.8% and Denmark
by  10.3%.  Differences  in  electricity  generation  in  other
Member States were limited to 5% or less. 

Source: Eurostat

Looking at the country values in 2005, the largest electricity
producer  was  Germany  with  620  300  GWh.  However,  it
was  closely  followed  by  France  (575  365),  some  way
ahead of the United Kingdom (400 524) and Italy (303 699).

As  suggested  by  the  EU  averages  (see  Figure  1.3),  a
glance  at  the  electricity  sources  in  the  individual  Member
States shows that conventional thermal energy was usually
the  largest  energy  source,  followed  by  nuclear  energy
and/or  hydro  power,  and  often  wind  as  the  last  source.
Electricity from geothermal sources was produced only in
Italy and Portugal.

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5

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1. Production and Installed capacity

On closer inspection, however, this broad pattern was not
true  for  a  number  of  Member  States.  For  example,  in
Belgium, France, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden, nuclear
energy was the leading source of electricity, whereas hydro
power was the main source in Latvia and Austria. 

Germany  and  Spain  were  the  countries  producing  wind
energy on the most significant scale in absolute terms. In
relative terms, wind energy was by far the most important
in Denmark. 

Regarding  individual  electricity  sources  (see  Figure  1.4),
positive  trends  were  seen  for  the  big  majority  of  them,
particularly wind, which, because of its explosive growth, is
considered  separately  later  in  this  section.  In  terms  of
relative  growth  (1990  =  100),  even  if  the  volumes  were
small,  the  expansion  of  wind  energy  was  by  far  the  most
impressive: the generation recorded in 2005 was 91 times
the volume reported in 1990 (see Figure 1.10).

Geothermal  energy,  although  it  accounted  for  a  minute
share of total energy, still grew by 67%, the second largest
growth. 

Conventional thermal energy expanded by 28%, ahead of
nuclear (26%) and hydro power (11%).

Interestingly,  although  hydro  power  grew  the  least,  this
would  not  have  been  the  case  had  it  continued  on  the
upward  path  recorded  before  2001.  Between  2001  and
2002,  it  actually  decreased  by  about  20%,  mainly  due  to
dry weather conditions (see also Section 1.1.4). After a mild
upswing in 2004, hydro power decreased again (by 4.4%)
between 2004 and 2005.

Figure  1.3:  Total  electricity  production  in  the  individual

Member States, by category of  generation, 2005 (Basis:

production in GWh)

CY

MT

EE

PL

NL

IE

EL

PT

IT

DK

LU

UK

CZ

ES

DE

HU

EU-27

RO

EU-15

BG

FI

BE

AT

SI

LV

SK

LT

FR

SE

Figure 1.4: Long-term development of  electricity generation, by source of  generation, based on production figures, EU-27

(1990=100)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Conventional Thermal Nuclear Hydro Wind Geothermal

Source: Eurostat

180

170

160

150

140

130

120

110

100

90

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Note: the development of electricity generation by wind turbines is shown separately in Figure 1.10. 

Source: Eurostat

Nuclear

Conventional Thermal

Hydro

Geothermal

6

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1. Production and Installed capacity

1.1.2 Electricity production from conventional thermal power plants

While  electricity  generation  from  conventional  thermal
power plants grew by 28% between 1990 and 2005 in the
EU-27 to reach 1.9 million GWh, the EU-15 saw a growth
of 36% to 1.6 million GWh (see Table 1.5). 

sources (with 402 017 GWh, 1.6% more than in 2004). The
thermal power plants in the United Kingdom generated the
second  largest  volume,  followed  by  those  in  Italy,  Spain
and Poland. 

Looking  behind  these  averages,  however,  the  growth
spectrum  was  extremely  wide,  being  stretched  at  the
extremes by Luxembourg (+ 467%) and Lithuania (- 67%). 

As  regards  absolute  volumes  in  2005,  the  EU's  largest
country  in  terms  of  population,  Germany,  was  by  far  the
largest  producer  of  electricity  from  conventional  thermal

Comparing the 2005 figures with those of a year earlier, 11
Member States registered a decrease, in particular Finland
(-30.4%)  and  Denmark  (-12.4%).  Conversely,  Spain,
Portugal,  Lithuania  and  France  saw  large  production
increases.

Table 1.5.: Gross electricity generation from conventional thermal power plants (GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

1 477 066

1 497 384

1 667 598

1 831 613

1 857 876

1 893 961

1 157 207

1 201 750

1 364 930

1 507 982

1 538 174

1 573 142

27 218

25 598

48 525

25 181

31 834

22 214

46 343

35 448

34 023

19 795

57 563

31 778

35 833

22 019

55 557

40 598

36 392

21 442

55 436

33 822

37 598

20 981

54 801

29 639

377 682

356 217

366 571

390 778

395 780

402 017

17 181

13 538

33 000

71 374

48 761

8 691

16 896

37 735

87 033

40 171

178 584

196 100

1 974

2 152

10 958

561

14 561

1 100

68 294

17 787

2 473

1 042

1 325

414

19 923

1 632

76 645

18 111

8 507

22 609

49 281

126 398

53 553

220 425

3 370

1 313

2 362

286

20 833

1 917

84 710

18 254

10 140

23 815

52 118

144 972

60 616

242 784

4 052

1 661

3 019

2 668

22 957

2 236

91 324

24 436

10 274

23 936

53 019

166 305

59 408

246 101

4 200

1 531

3 228

3 238

21 582

2 216

94 952

24 252

10 129

23 270

53 143

192 218

65 924

253 073

4 376

1 533

3 625

3 181

21 708

2 240

94 034

25 764

132 998

135 141

141 063

148 214

150 326

153 023

19 193

50 426

4 870

9 516

24 284

5 691

24 753

42 573

4 634

9 643

31 911

10 185

31 801

31 700

5 029

9 216

32 770

9 193

30 212

38 480

5 656

9 640

51 813

13 743

34 058

34 421

5 718

9 328

47 909

13 213

39 613

33 651

5 772

8 980

33 321

12 248

246 059

238 297

283 278

302 272

305 789

308 099

4 945

34 315

6

466

3 598

50 620

9

702

4 810

93 934

5

731

7 734

6 269

6 011

105 101

104 463

122 242

6

971

6

1 074

9

1 030

Change
2004-2005
(%)

1.9

2.3

3.3

-2.1

-1.1

-12.4

1.6

-1.4

-2.8

0.2

15.6

11.0

2.8

4.2

0.1

12.3

-1.8

0.6

1.1

-1.0

6.2

1.8

16.3

-2.2

0.9

-3.7

-30.4

-7.3

0.8

-4.1

17.0

50.0

-4.1

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO



Source: Eurostat

7

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1. Production and Installed capacity

1.1.3 Electricity production from nuclear power plants 

There are 15 Member States that have nuclear facilities for
the generation of electricity. Total electricity generation from
these power plants grew between 1990 and 2005 by 25%
in the EU-27, but also in the EU-15. Most of this growth was
during the 1990s and has remained stable in recent years.
Between  2004  and  2005,  nuclear  electricity  production
decreased by 1.1% in EU-27.

No new nuclear power plants have been commissioned in
the last few years. The increase in generation is mainly due
to  more  effective  operation  and/or  increases  in  power
output. 

Behind these averages, however, is a very wide continuum:
at the upper extreme was the Czech Republic with growth
of  96%  followed  by  Slovakia  (46%)  and  France  (44%)
between  1990  and  2005,  and  at  the  lower  end  Lithuania
with a decline of 39%. 

Looking then at the EU's major producers, France is by far
the largest producer reaching 0.45 million GWh in 2005. As
second  largest  producer,  Germany  recorded  a  growth  of
7% between 1990 and 2005, whereas the United Kingdom,
in third place, saw its generation go up by 24%. 

Table 1.6: Gross electricity generation from nuclear power plants (GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

794 873

881 821

944 993

995 860

1 008 437

997 699

720 201

810 266

863 915

898 234

910 247

900 981

42 720

14 665

12 585

-

41 356

17 261

12 230

-

48 157

18 178

13 590

-

47 379

17 280

25 872

-

47 312

16 815

26 325

-

47 595

18 653

24 728

-

152 470

154 091

169 606

165 060

167 065

163 055

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

54 270

314 081

55 455

377 231

62 206

415 162

61 875

441 070

63 606

448 241

57 539

451 529

0

-

-

0

-

-

17 033

11 822

-

13 731

-

3 500

-

-

-

0

4 622

12 036

19 220

68 190

65 750

-

-

-

-

-

14 026

-

4 018

-

-

-

0

4 779

11 437

19 216

69 935

88 964

-

-

-

-

0

-

-

8 419

-

14 180

-

3 926

-

-

-

5 456

4 761

16 494

22 479

57 316

85 063

-

-

-

-

0

-

-

0

-

-

0

-

-

15 484

15 102

10 337

-

11 013

-

4 018

-

-

-

4 906

5 207

17 864

22 731

67 415

88 686

-

-

-

-

-

11 915

-

3 822

-

-

-

5 548

5 459

17 026

22 716

77 486

79 999

-

-

-

-

-

13 834

-

3 997

-

-

-

5 555

5 884

17 727

23 271

72 377

81 618

-

-

-

-

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-1.1

-1.0

0.6

10.9

-6.1

-

-2.4

-

-

-

-9.5

0.7

0.0

-

-

-31.6

-

16.1

-

4.6

-

-

-

0.1

7.8

4.1

2.4

-6.6

2.0

-

-

-

-

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

8

Source: Eurostat



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Figure  1.7  takes  a  closer  look  at  the  growth  in  these
countries. Above and below the smoother growth line of the
EU-27, a few deviations stand out. 

Growth  in  the  United  Kingdom  was  especially  dynamic,
overtaking  Sweden  between  1991  and  1992.  The  United
Kingdom  maintained  its  dynamism  until  1999  and  2000,
when it fell by about 15 percentage points. It then kept pace
with France over the next couple of years in terms of most
dynamic  relative  growth  until  2003,  when  it  was  finally
overtaken by the latter. 

1. Production and Installed capacity

Interesting also is the drop in Sweden between 1991 and
1993 (over 20 percentage points) due to the closedown of
one nuclear power plant and between 1999 and 2000 due
to maintenance outages at another two plants. 

Regarding  changes  between  2004  and  2005,  the  most
noticeable  changes  in  the  Member  States  were  a  16%
increase in Hungary and an 11% increase in Bulgaria, as
against  a  32%  decrease  in  Lithuania  and  a  close  to  10%
decrease  registered  in  Spain.  Changes  in  the  other
countries were limited to fluctuations of 8% or under, both
positive and negative. 

Figure  1.7:  Long-term  development  of   electricity  production  from  nuclear  power  plants,  EU-27  and  selected  countries

(1990=100)

160

150

140

130

120

110

100

90

80

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

EU-27

DE

ES

FR

SE

UK

Source: Eurostat



9

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1. Production and Installed capacity

1.1.4 Electricity production from hydro-electric power plants

Turning to electricity generation from hydro-electric power
plants,  growth  was  11%  for  the  EU-27  and  7%  for  EU-15
between 1990 and 2005. In absolute terms, this translates
as 341 375 GWh for the EU-27 and 297 061 GWh for the
EU-15 (see Table 1.8). Inherent to precipitation quantities,
the noticeable decline between 2001 and 2003 (as visible
in  Figure  1.14)  was  mainly  due  to  dry  weather:  the
decrease in production was particularly strong in Spain and
Portugal.

Between  2004  and  2005,  increases  of  around  22%  were
reported  by  Romania  and  Sweden.  The  relative  increase
was even more important in Bulgaria, where hydro power

production progressed by 40%. In Portugal, production was
only half of what it was a year earlier.

The largest EU producer of hydro power was Sweden with
72  874  GWh  in  2005,  but  if  non-Member  States  are
considered,  Sweden's  volume  was  exceeded  by  a  large
margin  by  the  136  572  GWh  generated  in  Norway,
corresponding to 40% of the total EU-27 production. 

The  EU's  second  producer  was  France,  followed  by  Italy.
Also of note is Austria's volume.

Table 1.8: Gross electricity generation from hydro-electric power plants (GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

307 656

345 968

381 936

338 307

357 175

341 375

276 580

308 516

345 325

306 596

318 466

297 061

900

1 878

1 449

30

1 230

2 314

2 274

30

1 699

2 951

2 313

30

1 316

3 301

1 794

21

1 607

3 363

2 562

27

1 604

4 730

3 027

23

19 720

24 217

25 962

24 440

27 874

26 717

0

983

2 000

26 180

57 902

35 080

-

4 496

414

820

178

-

120

32 507

3 313

9 303

13 883

2 950

2 515

10 860

73 030

7 145

3 748

23 148

4 204

2

968

3 782

24 569

76 490

41 907

-

2 937

751

827

163

-

90

38 477

3 851

8 454

16 693

3 241

5 226

12 925

68 160

6 390

5 265

35 541

4 682

5

1 150

4 111

31 807

72 390

50 900

-

2 819

643

862

178

-

142

43 498

4 115

11 715

14 778

3 834

4 975

14 660

78 619

7 780

5 892

30 879

6 356

13

956

5 332

43 897

64 872

44 277

-

2 266

985

917

171

-

72

35 292

3 293

16 054

13 259

2 957

3 672

9 591

53 598

5 961

4 936

35 330

7 088

22

984

5 205

34 439

65 528

49 908

-

3 109

943

859

205

-

95

38 966

3 691

10 147

16 513

4 094

4 207

15 070

60 178

7 579

7 051

46 084

7 134

22

975

5 610

23 023

56 938

42 927

-

3 325

820

877

203

-

88

38 612

3 778

5 118

20 207

3 461

4 741

13 784

72 874

7 891

6 438

39 561

7 019

121 382

122 299

142 266

106 216

109 373

136 572

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-4.4

-6.7

-0.2

40.6

18.1

-14.8

-4.2

0.0

-0.9

7.8

-33.1

-13.1

-14.0

-

6.9

-13.0

2.1

-1.0

-

-7.4

-0.9

2.4

-49.6

22.4

-15.5

12.7

-8.5

21.1

4.1

-8.7

-14.2

-1.6

24.9

10

Source: Eurostat



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1.1.5 Electricity production from wind turbines

The  EU-27  generated  70  482  GWh  from  wind  turbines  in
2005, a close to 20% increase compared to 2004. Among
the  22  Member  States  with  this  source  of  electricity
production (all, except Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, Romania
and  Slovenia),  Germany  and  Spain  were  producing  the
most in 2005 (see Table 1.9). Together, these two countries
accounted for close to 70% of the entire EU-27 production,
with 27 229 and 21 219 GWh respectively. 

Of the other producers, Denmark with 6 614 GWh was the
largest, though with less than a third of Spain's generation.
Here,  it  is  observed  that  Spain  displays  a  growth  of  36%

1. Production and Installed capacity

between  2004  and  2005  whereas  the  Danish  figures
remained fairly constant. 

In  relative  terms,  all  EU  Member  States  registered
production  growth  between  2004  and  2005,  often  of
considerable  proportions,  except  for  Poland  and  Latvia 
(-4.9% and -4.1%, respectively). 

In  2005,  18.2%  of  total  Danish  electricity  production  was
generated by wind turbines. The equivalent share for Spain
was 7.2% while for Germany and Ireland was 4.4%.

Table 1.9: Gross electricity generation from wind turbines (GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

Change
2004-2005
(%)

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

778

778

7

0

0

610

71

0

0

2

14

0

2

0

0

-

0

0

0

4 069

4 068

9

0

0

1 177

1 712

0

16

34

270

5

10

0

0

-

0

0

0

56

317

0

0

1

-

-

0

0

6

9

-

0

-

0

1

1

16

-

-

0

11

99

391

-

0

-

10

22 250

22 240

15

0

0

4 241

9 352

1

244

451

4 724

77

563

0

4

-

27

0

0

829

67

5

168

-

-

0

78

457

947

-

33

-

31

44 370

44 182

88

0

4

5 561

18 859

6

454

1 021

12 075

391

1 458

0

48

-

26

4

0

58 814

58 592

129

1

10

6 583

25 509

8

655

1 121

15 601

596

1 847

0

49

-

39

6

0

1 330

1 867

366

124

496

-

-

2

93

679

1 285

-

61

-

218

924

142

816

-

-

6

120

850

1 935

-

58

-

252

70 482

70 205

227

2

22

6 614

27 229

54

1 112

1 266

21 219

959

2 344

0

47

-

53

10

0

2 067

1 328

135

1 773

-

-

7

170

936

2 908

-

59

-

506

19.8

19.8

76.0

100.0

120.0

0.5

6.7

575.0

69.8

12.9

36.0

60.9

26.9

-

-4.1

-

35.9

66.7

-

10.7

43.7

-4.9

117.3

-

-

16.7

41.7

10.1

50.3

-

1.7

-

100.8



Source: Eurostat

11

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1. Production and Installed capacity

Figure  1.10  shows  the  annual  growth  of  electricity
generation  by  wind  turbines  for  Spain  and  Germany  and
the  other  EU  countries,  and  their  relative  shares  in  that
growth.  In  terms  of  absolute  growth,  impressive  changes
were  seen  between  1997  and  2005.  Whereas  the  total

volume was 7 330 GWh by 1997, it was almost ten times
that  amount  eight  years  later  (70  482  GWh  in  2005).
Moreover,  from  2001  onwards,  the  overall  production
volume expanded by an average of 10 900 GWh per year.

Figure 1.10:  Development of  electricity generation by wind turbines, EU-27 (GWh) 

80 000

70 000

60 000

50 000

40 000

30 000

20 000

10 000

0

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Other EU countries

Spain

Germany

Source: Eurostat

1.1.6 Electricity production from geothermal power plants

Only  two  EU  Member  States  recorded  any  production  of
energy  from  geothermal  sources  (Italy  and  Portugal).
Although  only  accounting  for  0.2%  of  total  electricity
production  in  2005  (see  Figure  1.1),  gross  electricity
generation  from  geothermal  power  plants  increased  by

67%  between  1990  and  2005  (with  however  a  2.3%
decrease  between  2004  and  2005).  Italy  was  by  far  the
main  producer  with  5  324  GWh  in  2005  (99%  of  the  EU
total).  Looking  beyond  the  EU,  Iceland  is  the  only  other
European country with a noticeable production.

Table 1.11: Gross electricity generation from geothermal power plants (GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

EU-27

EU-15

IT

PT

TR

IS

3 224

3 224

3 220

4

80

300

3 478

3 478

3 436

42

86

290

4 785

4 785

4 705

80

76

5 431

5 431

5 341

90

89

5 521

5 521

5 437

84

93

5 395

5 395

5 324

71

94

1 323

1 406

1 483

1 658

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-2.3

-2.3

-2.1

-15.5

1.1

11.8

Source: Eurostat

12

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1.2 Gas production

1. Production and Installed capacity

In  2005,  the  EU's  main  gas-producing  countries  were
headed  by  the  United  Kingdom  with  a  share  of  41.9%,
followed  by  the  Netherlands  (29.9%),  and,  to  a  far  lesser
extent, Germany (7.6%), Italy (5.3%) and Romania (5.2%)
(see  Figure  1.12).  Other  countries  accounted  for  the
remainder of 10.2%. 

However,  15  years  earlier  (with  a  smaller  total  EU-27
production at the time), these same countries were also the
main  producers  but  with  different  rankings.  Most
noteworthy  is  the  change  of  positions  between  the
Netherlands  and  the  United  Kingdom:  in  1990,  the
Netherlands  was  very  much  the  number-one  producer
(33.6%) with the United Kingdom in second place (25.2%). 

In other terms, whereas by 2005 the Netherlands lost 3.7
percentage  points  in  its  share  of  production,  the  United
Kingdom gained about almost 16.7 points, with a 13 point
fall in the combined shares of Italy, Germany, Romania and
'Others'. 

In fact, the main reason for the United Kingdom's increased
share  was  because  the  production  gain  recorded  in  the 
EU-27 overall between 1990 and 2005 was almost entirely
due  to  the  United  Kingdom  (see  Table  1.13).  Romania's
natural  gas  production  experienced  a  rapid  decline  in  the
first  half  of  the  1990s,  and  this  decline  continued  in  the
following years, be it at a less rapid pace.

Figure 1.12: Primary production of  natural gas: main producer countries (as percentage of  EU-27 production)

0991

5002

sdnalrehteN
%6.33

detinU
modgniK
%2.52

ylatI
%6.8

ynamreG
%3.8

ainamoR
%1.41

srehtO
%1.01

sdnalrehteN
%9.92

ylatI
%3.5

ynamreG
%6.7

detinU
modgniK
%9.14

srehtO
%2.01

ainamoR
%2.5

Source: Eurostat

In fact, primary production of natural gas increased by 16%
in the EU-27, from almost 7.6 million TJ in 1990 to over 8.7
million by 2005. At the same time, production in the United
Kingdom  almost  doubled,  rising  from  1.9  million  to 
3.7 million TJ. 

Regarding  cases  of  positive  growth  recorded  between
1990  and  2005,  the  highest  was  in  Bulgaria  (+3  456% 
-  largely  explained  by  the  exploitation  of  new  gas  field),
Denmark  (+239%),  followed  by  the  United  Kingdom
(+93%) and Poland (+63%). 

Looking  at  the  changes  in  other  countries  between  1990
and 2005, what stands out most are perhaps the sizeable
percentage  declines  in  gas  production  in  10  EU  Member
States. Eight of these registered declines of between -39%
and -89%. 

The  decrease  in  Italy  (-30%)  was  comparatively  less
conspicuous in relative terms, but nonetheless the second
most  pronounced  in  absolute  volumes:  this  country
registered a decline of 192 000 TJ. Only Romania reported
an even more impressive decline, but these figures should
be  looked  at  with  care  due  to  reporting  from  different
sources in early years. 

Still, EU's primary production of natural gas experienced a
7.3% decrease between 2004 and 2005.

Looking beyond the EU, Norway actually came second to
the  United  Kingdom  in  terms  of  absolute  production
volume: 3.5 million TJ in 2005. 

Looking at the Candidate countries, Croatia appears as a
noticeable  producer.  Turkey's  production  is  far  less
important in absolute terms (34 355 TJ) but its growth has
been robust in recent years.



13

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1. Production and Installed capacity

Table 1.13: Primary production of  natural gas (in TJ-GCV)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

EU-27

EU-15

7 557 024

8 790 646

9 655 622

9 295 119

9 437 894

8 746 749

6 176 764

7 770 936

8 861 192

8 521 019

8 635 546

7 975 232

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

LV

LT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

NO

450

503

9 337

128 852

629 513

-

87 127

6 426

59 228

117 032

652 664

-

-

-

10

1 841

9 210

218 724

702 426

-

104 630

2 041

17 650

129 928

760 448

-

-

-

96

573

7 876

344 785

735 038

-

44 581

1 968

6 883

69 999

633 716

-

-

-

0

597

6 098

335 062

740 615

-

25 293

1 442

9 149

59 621

529 017

-

-

-

0

12 432

7 555

395 033

685 342

-

32 025

1 337

14 398

51 530

493 813

-

-

-

0

17 884

7 170

436 520

661 721

-

21 437

851

6 694

38 509

459 905

-

-

-

177 314

176 203

115 143

106 329

110 100

108 422

2 540 607

2 812 399

2 414 593

2 428 905

2 864 924

2 617 469

51 014

110 621

-

58 670

147 432

-

71 308

154 138

-

82 603

167 997

-

77 550

182 698

-

65 281

180 700

-

1 065 811

672 012

510 237

485 135

482 759

451 305

940

15 734

-

-

724

12 288

-

-

281

6 182

-

-

199

7 745

-

-

201

6 603

-

-

160

5 876

-

-

1 903 851

2 964 010

4 538 225

4 309 312

4 019 594

3 666 845

75 328

8 120

74 723

6 971

63 023

24 474

83 205

21 448

83 528

26 350

86 769

34 355

1 123 348

1 314 568

2 131 427

3 082 859

3 275 892

3 548 570

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-7.3

-7.6

-

43.9

-5.1

10.5

-3.4

-

-33.1

-36.4

-53.5

-25.3

-6.9

-

-

-

-1.5

-8.6

-15.8

-1.1

-

-6.5

-20.4

-11.0

-

-

-8.8

3.9

30.4

8.3

Source: Eurostat

Figure 1.14: Long-term development of  natural gas production, EU-27 and selected countries (1990=100)

053

003

052

002

051

001

05

0

0991

1991

2991

3991

4991

5991

6991

7991

8991

9991

0002

1002

2002

3002

4002

5002

72-UE

KD

ED

TI

LN

OR

KU

Source: Eurostat

14

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Figure  1.14  provides  a  graphical  representation  of  the
relative growths recorded for the EU-27 and the main gas-
producing  countries  (1990=100).  Over  the  1990-2005
period,  Denmark  stands  out  as  the  fastest  growing  gas
producer,  high  above  the  flatter  EU-27  average  and  the
other main contributors. Growth was particularly dynamic in
Denmark  in  1996,  1997,  2004  and  2005.  Conversely,
production  in  the  United  Kingdom  stagnated  from  2000
onwards.

Alongside  the  growth  in  electricity  generation  from  wind
turbines, relative growth in the primary production of biogas
between  1990  and  2005  was  almost  as  eye-catching:  in
2005 the EU-27 total production of 182 090 TJ was more
than six times that recorded in 1990 (see Table 1.15). More,
EU-15  production  reached  176  227 TJ  in  2005.  In  recent
years, biogas production displays a continuous fast growth,
illustrated  by  the  15%  growth  between  2004  and  2005
alone. 

Table 1.15: Primary production of  biogas (in TJ-GCV)

1. Production and Installed capacity

The most striking growth was seen in Italy between 1990
and 2004. And although only a 1.5% growth was registered
between  2004  and  2005,  the  production  volume  of  2005
(13 559 TJ)  represented  more  than  double  the  2000
volume, placing Italy, in absolute terms, as the third largest
producer just ahead of Spain. Since 2000, the latter country
showed  a  very  similar  development  compared  to  that  of
Italy. 

In  terms  of  total  production  in  2005,  the  largest  producer
was the United Kingdom (60 302 TJ) followed very closely
by Germany (59 992 TJ). The production of biogas of these
two countries accounted for two thirds of the EU-27 total. 

A different picture was seen 15 years earlier in 1990, when
Germany  had  the  largest  share,  followed  by  the  United
Kingdom and then France.

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

28 889

28 496

269

-

0

752

12 231

0

95

19

425

3 049

42

-

0

0

28

0

-

53 006

50 953

461

-

1 417

1 758

13 946

85

119

30

3 155

5 494

557

-

0

0

35

0

-

2 539

4 938

313

393

92

-

0

0

420

0

8 222

0

0

0

40

849

551

122

-

0

0

544

4 140

14 805

0

0

0

663

91 166

138 008

158 135

182 090 1

88 218

133 694

152 831

176 227

1 207
-

1 509

2 912

23 341

76

1 168

59

5 492

6 092

5 396
-

0

0

23

0
-

5 536

938

1 211

48
-

152

0

751

1 342
33 913

0
216

0
1 078

2 157

-

1 729

3 578

38 699

113

1 062

1 507

10 743

8 507

10 689

-

163

78

173

206

-

5 392

1 594

1 628

35

-

240

157

834

1 489

47 235

0

341

0

3 025

-

2 103

3 738

42 032

94

1 250

1 574

13 083

8 687

13 353

-

289

68

209

272

-

5 285

1 161

1 953

187

-

278

247

1 108

1 478

56 661

0

311

28

3 597

-

2 335

3 830

59 992

:

1 434

1 381

13 269

8 750

13 559

-

340

77

311

281

-

5 095

1 290

2 247

424

-

284

205

1 746

1 247

60 302

106

295

42

1 079

1 025

1 054

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

15.1

15.3

18.9

 -

11.0

2.5

42.7

:

14.7

-12.3

1.4

0.7

1.5

 -

17.6

13.2

48.8

3.3

 -

-3.6

11.1

15.1

126.7

 -

2.2

-17.0

57.6

-15.6

6.4

-

-5.1

50.0

2.8

1 assuming a value for Estonia equivalent to that registered in 2004.

Source: Eurostat



15

Chapter1_Energy:chapter1

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1. Production and Installed capacity

Figure 1.16 illustrates more clearly the constant growth in
biogas production between 1990 and 2005 in the EU-27 as
a  whole  and  in  the  two  main  biogas-producing  countries:
the United Kingdom and Germany. 

Also  visible  is  the  change  in  relative  shares  between
Germany and the United Kingdom in 1995, giving the latter
the  larger  share  of  the  two  from  then  onwards,  despite  a
considerable  increase  of  42.7%  recorded  for  Germany
between 2004 and 2005.

Figure 1.16: Long-term development of  biogas production in the EU-27 and main producing countries (in TJ-GCV)

000002

000081

000061

000041

000021

000001

00008

00006

00004

00002

0

0991

1991

2991

3991

4991

5991

6991

7991

8991

9991

0002

1002

2002

3002

4002

5002

ynamreG

modgniKdetinU

srehtO

Source: Eurostat

16

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Installed 

of
1.3 
electricity-generating  power
plants

capacity 

1.3.1 Total installed capacity

In terms of net installed capacity in 2005, the breakdown of
power plants by category was, as to be expected, not very
much  different  from  that  for  electricity  production  (see
Figure  1.17):  conventional  thermal  power  plants  made  up
the largest share (57.8%), with wind and geothermal plants
accounting  for  the  smallest  shares  (5.2%  and  0.1%,
respectively). 

Compared with the situation in 1990, the breakdown of net
installed  capacity  did  not  change  much  except  for  wind
energy.  Whereas  conventional  thermal  energy  lost  0.6
percentage points, nuclear energy lost 2.6 points and hydro
energy 1.9 points (see Figure 1.18). 

The  most  spectacular  development  was  noted  for  wind
energy.  The  share  increased  from  0.1%  to  5.2%  of  total
capacity.  This  was  an  impressive  increase  even  given  its
small relative share.

1. Production and Installed capacity

Figure 1.17: EU-27 - Installed capacity versus production,

2005

%001

%09

%08

%07

%06

%05

%04

%03

%02

%01

%0

yticapaC

noitcudorP

raelcuN

ordyH

lamrehtoeG

lamrehTlanoitnevnoC

dniW

Source: Eurostat

Figure 1.18: EU-27: net installed capacity - shares by category of  power plants (based on plant capacity in MW)

5002

0991

lanoitnevnoC
lamrehT
%4.85

lanoitnevnoC
lamrehT
%8.75

raelcuN
%8.02

lamrehtoeG
%1.0

dniW
%1.0

ordyH
%6.02

raelcuN
%2.81

lamrehtoeG
%1.0

dniW
%2.5

ordyH
%7.81

Source: Eurostat



17

Chapter1_Energy:chapter1

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1. Production and Installed capacity

Table 1.19: Total net installed capacity of  electricity-generating power plants (MW)

0991

5991

0002

3002

4002

5002

593685

008236

362596

346727

097637

124347

066994

64141

0

97251

3319

89579

0003

7083

4158

71434

071301

95565

174

0902

5375

2421

4817

0

46571

68661

86972

6937

77422

1352

0

12231

78143

02037

7453
81361

449
48862

063835

972585

172616

373426

089136

71941

0

30831

57701

28651

71021

32351

82621

90651

79911

34371

09531

43651

87911

43471

04331

49061

27911

21471

54331

243511

762811

966421

568321

225321

2962

0604

2498

94854

573701

70956

996

7602

6585

7521

4047

224

49981

93471

56492

8139

67222

8152

8327

33441

32633

92107

3363
55902

1801
55082

5452

8074

30901

08935

434411

43357

889

2902

1965

6221

2828

515

89902

25871

95503

89801

40912

4162

4547

85261

12733

09387

4573
46272

3831
90482

5612

0865

87021

86196

005611

20187

499

5512

5075

2161

1178

453

19702

22281

70413

91611

96391

0792

2028

35561

16333

71787

9193
78553

7051
12482

3832

9385

03421

98496

867611

60318

499

6512

7075

2361

3368

783

21712

20681

88813

11721

42691

5692

8628

36561

94633

33808

7393
42863

8051
42972

5822

0516

40331

09596

327611

13258

4211

5612

0354

4721

6858

129

77612

29881

75223

98331

05981

2992

7428

46461

29633

33628

0683
24883

8351
:

72-UE

51-UE

EB

GB

ZC

KD

ED

EE

EI

LE

SE

RF

TI

YC

VL

TL

UL

UH

TM

LN

TA

LP

TP

OR

IS

KS

IF

ES

KU

RH

RT

SI

ON

egnahC
5002-4002
)%(

9.0

2.1

9.2

1.0-

1.0-

0.0

3.0-

1.4-

3.5

0.7

1.0

0.0

8.4

1.31

4.0

6.02-

9.12-

5.0-

0.831

2.0-

6.1

2.1

3.5

4.3-

9.0

3.0-

6.0-

1.0

2.2

0.2-

5.5

0.2

:

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat

In  absolute  terms,  the  total  net  installed  capacity  of
electricity-generating  power  plants  in  the  EU-27  grew  by
27%  between  1990  and  2005,  from  586 395  MW  to 
743 421  MW.  Growth  in  the  smaller  EU-15  was  identical
(27%).

Among the EU Member States, growths ranged from 138%
in  Cyprus  down  to  -24%  in  Estonia.  Cyprus'  growth  is
noteworthy  (although  small  in  absolute  terms)  given  that
the  next  highest  growths  were  noted  in  Portugal  (81%),
Ireland (62%), Spain (60%) and Greece (56%).

However,  between  1990  and  2005,  only  four  Member
States recorded decreases in their total installed capacity:
in absolute terms, Romania's capacity decreased the most,
passing from 22 477 MW in 1990 to 18 950 MW in 2005.

Looking beyond the EU Member States, of note is Turkey's
growth of 138%.

18



Chapter1_Energy:chapter1

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9:30 AM

Page 19

Figure 1.20: Share of  net installed capacity for electricity

production by category of  power plants, 2005

YC

TM

EE

LP

LN

EI

KU

UH

KD

LE

TI

ZC

IF

OR

ED

72-UE

GB

51-UE

TL

TP

EB

SE

IS

KS

TA

VL

RF

ES

UL

1. Production and Installed capacity

The  global  EU  pie  chart  of  net  installed  capacity,  broken
down  by  category  of  power  plant  (see  Figure  1.17),
conceals a wide national variation.

It  is  interesting  to  see  that  the  capacities  of  Cyprus  and
Malta were made up entirely of conventional thermal power
plants. In three other Member States (Latvia, Luxembourg
and Austria), the majority of the capacity was provided by
hydro-electric power plants. 

Other  observations  include  the  fact  that  Belgium  came
second to France in having nuclear power plants account
for  the  largest  share  of  capacity  (34%  and  54%,
respectively).  Slovakia  came  closest  to  achieving  similar
shares between nuclear power (32%), conventional energy
(37%) and hydro power (30%). 

Turning  back  to  growth  between  1990  and  2005,  but
temporarily  disregarding  wind,  which  cannot  be
represented  simultaneously  because  of  its  explosive
growth, Figure 1.21 depicts the evolution in the net installed
capacity of the four other main types of power plants. 

Second to wind came the relative increase of the capacity
of  geothermal  power  plants 
followed  by
conventional  thermal  power  plants  (26%),  hydro  power
(15%) and nuclear power plants (11%). 

(37%), 

%0

%02

%04
lamrehTlanoitnevnoC
raelcuN
lamrehtoeG

%06

%08

%001

ordyH
dniW

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES nuclear and conventional thermal data are
provisional.

Source: Eurostat

Figure 1.21: Evolution of  the net installed capacity of  power plants, EU-27 (1990=100)

051

041

031

021

011

001

09



0991

1991

2991

3991

4991

5991

6991

7991

8991

9991

0002

1002

2002

3002

4002

5002

raelcuN

lamrehTlanoitnevnoC

ordyH

lamrehtoeG

Source: Eurostat

19

Chapter1_Energy:chapter1

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1. Production and Installed capacity

1.3.2 Installed capacity of conventional thermal power plants

Between  1990  and  2005,  the  net  installed  capacity  of
conventional thermal plants - the largest contributor to total
capacity - grew by 25% in the EU-27 to reach 430 006 MW,
compared with 28% in the EU-15 (351 626 MW). Within the
EU, Germany accounted for about 12% of the total capacity
with  76  375  MW,  followed  by  the  United  Kingdom 
(65 035 MW) and Italy (61 932 MW). 
The  highest  national  growths  over  the  1990-2005  period
were  recorded  in  Cyprus  (139%),  Portugal  (80%),  Spain
(75%),  Italy  (66%),  Greece  (59%)  and  Ireland  (56%).

Conversely, six EU Member States recorded reductions in
capacity,  the  highest  of  which  appeared  in  Romania 
(-29%). 

Between 2004 and 2005, capacity grew only by 0.6% at EU
level. The  highest  relative  decrease  (-78%)  was  recorded
for Luxembourg. On the other side, a remarkable increase
was  reported  by  Malta  (138%).  Cyprus  and  Greece  also
(13.1%  and  9.6%
increases 
reported  noticeable 
respectively).

Table 1.22: Net installed capacity of  conventional thermal power plants (MW)

0991

5991

0002

3002

4002

5002

72-UE

51-UE

836243

178173

441704

000424

054724

600034

694472

668003

975923

155643

280943

626153

EB

GB

ZC

KD

ED

EE

EI

LE

SE

RF

TI

YC

VL

TL

UL

UH

TM

LN

TA

LP

TP

OR

IS

KS

IF

ES

KU

RH

RT

SI

ON

0427

0

90121

0878

04486

0003

4923

0016

01202

37622

09273

174

306

8262

011

6735

0

06961

9375

19952

0504

02861

4411

0

0428

0887

09475

6841
6359

241
0

7787

0

44601

94101

61628

2962

7353

0936

28812

96832

17554

996

065

1642

711

6155

224

59181

4316

81472

3984

87261

7901

8123

0439

9437

74925

1651
47011

641
0

5458

3765

56411

62201

49708

5452

4604

5067

34262

17062

53045

889

775

1642

47

3836

515

07002

4316

27382

5726

77051

5111

4932

89601

6257

91216

5761

25061

741
072

6638

9576

32411

26401

56308

5612

9984

8268

01373

51772

16855

499

295

9642

254

8876

453

12491

8716

99092

9476

41421

0431

2503

46801

8737

30916

3481
47922

051
842

5638

9866

89411

40201

31487

5732

9294

1688

77453

55772

29785

499

495

0742

954

5176

783

35102

2926

66592

2927

83621

5331

7013

11801

4247

55836

4581
54142

341

062

3178

2866

65411

50201

57367

4522

2315

8079

77453

05372

23916

4211

306

0742

101

4566

129

76991

4526

51892

7727

45911

7531

0903

67601

4247

53056

0081
10952

341

:

egnahC
5002-4002
)%(

6.0

7.0

2.4

1.0-

4.0-

0.0

6.2-

1.5-

1.4

6.9

0.0

5.1-

3.5

1.31

5.1

0.0

0.87-

9.0-

0.831

9.0-

6.0-

8.0

2.0-

4.5-

6.1

5.0-

2.1-

0.0

8.1

9.2-

3.7

0.0

:

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional.

Source: Eurostat

20



Chapter1_Energy:chapter1

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1. Production and Installed capacity

Looking at the changes between 2004 and 2005, the great
majority of the EU Member States did not report any or only
very  little  change  in  nuclear  capacity.  A  noteworthy
exception  was  Lithuania,  where  nuclear  capacity  fell  by
50%, due to the closure of the first of the two units of the
Ignalina nuclear power plant.

1.3.3 Installed capacity of nuclear power plants 

By 2005, the EU-27 had a capacity of 135 097 MW, while 
EU-15 reported 121 563 MW.

Based on 1990 and 2005 data, the largest growth within the
EU was recorded in the Czech Republic (114%) followed to
a  far  lesser  extent  by  France  (14%)  and  Finland  (13%).
France was the EU's main contributor to capacity by a large
margin:  with  63  363  MW,  it  accounted  for  47%  of  the  EU
total. France was followed by Germany (20 378 MW) and
the United Kingdom (11 852 MW).

Table 1.23: Net installed capacity of  nuclear power plants (MW)

0991

5991

0002

3002

4002

5002

228121

413821

292731

672731

414631

790531

076411

065911

138321

755221

696121

365121

0055

0

0671

-

2365

0

0671

-

3175

0843

0671

-

1675

3272

0673

-

1675

2272

0673

-

2085

2272

0673

-

06222

31722

69322

93412

25502

87302

-

-

-

0796

05755

0

-

-

0003

-

0671

-

015

-

-

-

0

236

0

0632

0799

05311

-

-

-
-

-

-

-

8607

51585

0

-

-

0372

-

0481

-

505

-

-

-

0

466

0671

0132

55001

26721

-

-

-
-

-

-

-

3057

38136

0

-

-

7632

-

1581

-

944

-

-

-

707

656

0462

0462

1649

-

-

-

1857

36336

0

-

-

7632

-

6681

-

944

-

-

-

707

656

0462

1762

1449

-

-

-

7757

36336

0

-

-

7632

-

6681

-

944

-

-

-

707

656

0462

1762

1749

-

-

-

7757

36336

0

-

-

3811

-

6681

-

944

-

-

-

707

656

0462

1762

1749

68421

25811

25811

25811

-

-

-
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

egnahC
5002-4002
)%(

0.1-

1.0-

7.0

0.0

0.0

-

8.0-

-

-

-

0.0

0.0

0.0

-

-

0.05-

-

0.0

-

0.0

-

-

-

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

-

-

-

-

72-UE

51-UE

EB

GB

ZC

KD

ED

EE

EI

LE

SE

RF

TI

YC

VL

TL

UL

UH

TM

LN

TA

LP

TP

OR

IS

KS

IF

ES

KU

RH

RT

SI

ON

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat



21

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1. Production and Installed capacity

1.3.4.

Installed capacity of hydro-electric power plants

The  growth  of  the  net  installed  capacity  of  hydro  electric
power stations was higher in the EU-27 (15%) than in the
EU-15  (9%)  between  1990  and  2005.  A  total  capacity  of
138  772  MW  was  registered  at  EU-27  level  in  2005.
Compared to 2004, capacity increased by only 0.6%, due
to  the  fact  that  the  possibilities  for  hydro-electric  power
generation have now largely been exploited in Europe. 

The  main  contributor  to  capacity  was  France,  which
accounted for 18% of the EU total (25 287 MW). Italy came
second  (20  993  MW),  followed  by  Spain  (18  219  MW).
These three countries combined accounted for close to half
of total EU capacity.

Table 1.24: Net installed capacity of  hydro electric power stations (MW)

0991

5991

0002

3002

4002

5002

72-UE

51-UE

359021

366921

824731

611731

489731

277831

215901

389411

774811

099711

947811

574911

EB

GB

ZC

KD

ED

EE

EI

LE

SE

RF

TI

YC

VL

TL

UL

UH

TM

LN

TA

LP

TP

OR

IS

KS

IF

ES

KU

RH

RT

SI

ON

1041

0

0141

01

0586

-

315

0142

03261

74742

07781

-

7841

701

2311

84

-

73

3041

0

9931

01

6788

-

715

3252

48761

78942

44891

-

6051

566

0411

84

-

73

0141

4682

7902

01

2898

-

825

2703

06971

42152

64302

-

3151

368

8311

84

-

73

5141

5152

9412

11

6528

-

235

9703

34081

10252

06602

-

7351

968

8311

45

-

73

5141

7652

0612

11

1728

-

235

9903

81181

78252

54702

-

6351

078

8311

94

-

73

2141

7652

7612

11

1438

-

625

5013

91281

78252

39902

-

6351

778

8311

94

-

73

74901

40311

46611

10711

05711

11811

7791

4433

7565

557

0

1262

03361

0714

1602
4676

657
48862

7402

9044

8995

757

0622

7772

25161

0224

2702
3689

488
25082

3812

6254

0216

348

0242

2882

52561

3724

9702

57111

4601
62182

3722

8854

8426

479

7052

6692

34161

0224

6702
97521

5511
67082

2822

2584

9726

479

8152

9992

20361

3914

3802
54621

3611
21572

1232

4305

9826

979

2152

5303

54361

1814

0602

50921

3611
:

egnahC
5002-4002
)%(

6.0

6.0

2.0-

0.0

3.0

0.0

-

-

1.1-

2.0

6.0

0.0

-

-

0.0

8.0

0.0

-

-

0.0

5.0

7.1

8.3

2.0

5.0

2.0-

2.1

3.0

3.0-

1.1-

1.2

0.0

:

22

Source: Eurostat



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1. Production and Installed capacity

1.3.5 Installed capacity of electricity-generating wind turbines 

As  mentioned  before,  the  most  impressive  growth  was
seen in the net installed capacity of wind turbines. Capacity
at EU level in 2005 was some 80 times what it was in 1990.
Growth  between  2004  and  2005  was  13.3%  (see  Table
1.25).

Twenty-two  EU  Member  States  reported  using  electricity-
generating wind turbines. Three Member States excelled in
the  development  of  wind  turbines:  Germany  (growing
significantly  between  1990  and  2005, 
reaching 
18 428  MW),  Spain  (up  to  8  317  MW)  and,  at  a  lesser
degree, Denmark (3129 MW).

Table 1.25: Net installed capacity of  electricity-generating wind-turbines (MW) 

0991

5991

0002

3002

4002

5002

egnahC
5002-4002
)%(

72-UE

51-UE

EB

GB

ZC

KD

ED

EE

EI

LE

SE

RF

TI

YC

VL

TL

UL

UH

TM

LN

TA

LP

TP

OR

IS

KS

IF

ES

KU

RH

RT

SI

ON

384

384

5

0

-

343

84

0

0

2

7

0

3

-

0

-

0

-

-

2742

1742

5

0

-

616

7311

0

6

72

511

4

22

-

1

-

0

-

-

59721

88721

41

0

1

2932

5906

0

611

622

4722

65

363

-

2

-

41

-

-

75

752

244

0

0

1

-

-

0

0

7

01

-

0

-

0

1

0

8

-

-

0

6

76

002

-

0

-

3

45

4

38

-

-

0

83

902

214

-

91

-

31

03582

25482

76

0

11

7113

90641

0

942

173

4326

122

478

-

62

-

22

3

-

488

343

53

862

-

-

3

25

993

247

-

91

-

79

68243

09143

39

0

61

5213

92661

8

873

074

7138

363

7211

-

62

-

53

3

-

3701

065

04

355

-

-

3

28

254

339

-

91

-

251

16883

13683

761

1

92

9213

82481

13

294

194

7138

327

5361

-

62

-

53

71

-

4221

728

121

4601

-

-

5

28

254

5651

-

12

-

:

3.31

0.31

6.97

-

3.18

1.0

8.01

5.782

2.03

5.4

0.0

2.99

1.54

-

0.0

-

0.0

7.664

-

1.41

7.74

5.202

4.29

-

-

7.66

0.0

0.0

7.76

-

5.01

-

:



Source: Eurostat

23

Chapter1_Energy:chapter1

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1. Production and Installed capacity

In terms of share, the approximately 17 500 wind turbines
installed in Germany by the end of 2005 contributed 47% of
the  EU's  total  capacity,  with  Spain  accounting  for  another
21%. Denmark was the third largest contributor with 8% of
the total EU capacity in 2005.

capacity;  Spain's  capacity  in  2005  remained  strictly  the
same  as  a  year  earlier.  Conversely,  Germany's  wind
capacity  continued  its  increase  (close  to  11%  between
2004 and 2005), but at a rate far less impressive than that
registered in the second half of the 1990s. 

Year-on-year  changes  between  1995  and  2005  of  these
three  main  contributors  are  shown  in  Figure  1.26:
especially  Spain  displayed  very  high  growth  rates  in
installed  capacity  during  the  second  half  of  the  1990s
whereas  the  building  of  new  wind-turbines  obviously
slowed  down  in  the  first  years  of  the  new  millennium.  In
2004 and 2005, Denmark did not add noteworthy additional

Other  Member  States  display  important  relative  growth
rates: admittedly starting from a low level in absolute terms,
this  is  particularly  true  for  Hungary,  Estonia  and  Poland
(growth rates over 200% between 2004 and 2005), but also
for  France  (+99%),  Portugal  (+92%),  the  Czech  Republic
(+81%), Belgium (+80%) and the United Kingdom (+68%).

Figure 1.26: Net installed capacity of  electricity-generating wind-turbines: year-on-year changes between 1995-2005 of  the

main contributing countries (%)

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

1995-1996

1996-1997

1997-1998

1998-1999

1999-2000

2000-2001

2001-2002

2002-2003

2003-2004

2004-2005

Denmark

Germany

Spain

Source: Eurostat

1.3.6 Installed capacity of geothermal power plants 

the 

least  significant  and 

Finally, 
least  widespread
contributor to total capacity, geothermal power plants, grew
from  499  MW  to  685  MW  in  the  EU  between  1990  and
2005, i.e. a growth of 37%. 

In 2005, Italy continued to be the largest contributor by far
with  671  MW.  Looking  beyond  the  EU,  Iceland  came
second in volume to Italy with 232 MW.

Table 1.27: Net installed capacity of  electricity generating geothermal power plants (MW)

72-UE

51-UE

LE

TI

TP

RT

SI

0991

5991

0002

3002

4002

5002

994

994

2

694

1

81

64

084

084

2

074

8

81

15

406

406

2

095

41

81

271

127

127

0

707

41

51

202

656

656

0

246

41

51

202

586

586

0

176

41

51

232

C

egnah
5002-4002
)%(

4.4

4.4

-

5.4

0.0

0.0

9.41

Source: Eurostat

24

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Chapter2_Energy:chapter1

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2. Consumption

2. CONSUMPTION

2.1 Electricity consumption

2.1.1 Overview 

The  final  consumption  of  electricity  is  presented  in  this
section.  The  figures  are  based  on  the  reporting  of
consumption  according  to  Eurostat's  Energy  Balances
methodology.  Further  methodological  information  can  be
obtained from 'Coded', Eurostat's Concepts and Definitions
database  -  see  http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/dsis/coded/
info/data/coded/en/Theme9.htm.

Total final electricity consumption in the EU-27 amounted to
2.76 million GWh in 2005. This corresponds to an increase
of  29%  compared  to  1990  and  1.4%  compared  with  the
previous year (2004).

As shown in Figure 2.1, the proportions of the three main
consumption categories have changed somewhat between

1990  and  2005.  There  has  been  a  shift  towards  the
consumption of households and services to the detriment
of  industry:  whereas  industrial  consumption  fell  by  4.8
percentage  points,  households  and  services  gained  four
points. This does not mean that electricity consumption in
the  industrial  sector  has  decreased:  the  consumption  of
households  and  services  has  just  increased  at  a  much
faster pace.

Electricity  consumption  by  the  transport  sector  remains
very  limited  and  is  mainly  to  provide  tractive  power  for
railways.  Its  share  actually  fell  by  0.3  percentage  points,
but here again the picture is biased by the strong increase
registered by households and services. 

Figure 2.1: Electricity consumption by sector of  activity, EU-27

1990

Transport
3.0%

2005

Transport
2.7%

Industry
45.7%

Note: Data for 2005 are provisional.

Industry
40.9%

Households
and Services
52.2%

Households
and
Services
56.2%

Source: Eurostat

26

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Chapter2_Energy:chapter1

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Page 27

Figure 2.2: Electricity consumption by country, share by

sector of  activity, 2005 (%) 

IS

LU

RO

SI

FI

BE

SK

IT

TR

NO

DE

SE

ES

AT

CZ

PL

U-27

U-15

NL

BG

PT

EE

LT

UK

FR

IE

MT

DK

LV

HU

EL

HR

CY

0%
Industry

20%

40%
Transport

60%

80%
Households / Services

100%

2. Consumption

While  the  pie  charts  in  the  previous  figure  show  the
distribution  of  the  main  sectors  of  activity  at  EU-27  level,
Figure  2.2  gives  the  sectorial  breakdown  for  individual
countries in 2005. 

The  proportions  of  the  various  sectors  vary  considerably
and depend on a multitude of factors, such as the industrial
structure  of  a  country,  climatic  conditions,  settlement
patterns  and  transport  infrastructures.  A  comparison
between countries is therefore only of limited value. This is
also  valid  for  the  consumption  per  inhabitant  ratio,
especially in industry and transport (see sections 2.1.2 and
2.1.3).

Bearing this in mind, the proportion of industrial electricity
consumption  among  the  EU  Member  States  is  highest  in
Luxembourg,  Romania  and  Slovenia  with  65%,  61%  and
56%  of  total  final  electricity  consumption,  respectively.
Nearly half of Luxembourg's industrial consumption (47%)
and more than a third of Romania's (36%) goes on the steel
industry, whereas in Finland the paper and printing sector
accounts for the largest share (54.5% of the total). 

If the non-EU Member States are included, Iceland has the
highest proportion with 75.5%.

the  other  hand,  only  14%  of 

On 
total  electricity
consumption in Cyprus went on industry, far lower than in
Croatia (24%), Greece (28%) and Denmark (31%). 

In several countries, electricity consumption in transport is
very  limited.  Malta  and  Iceland  (which,  together  with
Cyprus,  do  not  have  railways)  did  not  report  any
consumption in this sector. The highest share was reported
by Austria with 5.4% of the total. As mentioned earlier, this
consumption  is  mainly  to  provide  tractive  power  for
tramways  and  subways.  The  degree  of
railways, 
electrification  of 
the
characteristics  of  the  rolling  stock  (proportion  of  electric
locomotives) is of influence here. 

the  rail  network  as  well  as 

In  26  out  of  31  countries,  the  households  and  services
sector  accounted  for  close  to  50%  of  total  final  electricity
consumption. The  highest  share  was  recorded  by  Cyprus
with  85%,  followed  by  Croatia,  Greece,  Malta,  Denmark,
Ireland  and  Latvia,  all  with  a  proportion  of  more  or  less
70%. 

Source: Eurostat

As  industrial  consumption  takes  the  lion's  share  in
Luxembourg  and  Iceland,  the  share  of  households  and
services is limited to 34% and 24%, respectively.



27

Chapter2_Energy:chapter1

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Page 28

2. Consumption

Table 2.3: Total final electricity consumption (GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

2 142 059

2 248 870

2 515 834

2 665 967

2 717 455

2 755 978

1 813 476

1 968 619

2 229 598

2 363 042

2 407 456

2 443 911

57 984

35 272

48 177

29 272

68 439

28 689

48 026

30 882

77 539

24 132

49 351

32 454

79 677

25 110

52 376

32 370

80 603

24 882

53 801

33 028

80 182

25 678

55 246

33 514

446 489

452 551

482 603

509 265

513 327

517 504

6 805

11 868

28 470

125 799

301 912

214 100

1 754

8 266

12 011

4 127

31 593

910

73 523

42 665

96 091

23 544

54 550

9 740

23 414

58 943

120 347

274 433

13 218

44 952

3 910

96 808

4 484

14 851

34 087

140 911

342 577

237 736

2 223

4 430

6 345

4 996

27 743

1 259

83 077

45 976

89 584

28 804

36 354

9 384

21 730

65 217

124 573

293 942

9 894

65 133

4 259

4 969

20 288

43 151

188 459

384 903

272 547

2 996

4 439

6 171

5 716

29 441

1 567

97 938

52 036

96 727

38 373

33 912

10 521

22 010

75 446

128 725

329 420

11 796

95 873

6 911

5 573

23 033

48 598

219 988

408 248

290 964

3 645

5 180

7 142

6 015

31 396

1 817

5 892

23 058

49 738

230 669

419 636

295 042

3 749

5 381

7 612

6 377

31 818

1 798

6 023

24 352

50 904

242 222

422 523

300 376

3 960

5 701

7 930

6 158

32 336

1 720

100 520

103 118

104 507

54 684

98 189

43 164

37 465

12 047

22 985

80 855

129 443

336 218

12 922

110 364

7 541

55 686

99 757

44 668

38 736

12 546

24 027

83 128

130 361

339 017

13 646

119 483

7 760

56 796

98 835

46 322

39 046

12 742

22 850

80 935

132 373

345 243

14 355

128 518

7 799

103 766

109 533

103 154

107 915

111 915

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

1.4

1.5

-0.5

3.2

2.7

1.5

0.8

2.2

5.6

2.3

5.0

0.7

1.8

5.6

5.9

4.2

-3.4

1.6

-4.3

1.3

2.0

-0.9

3.7

0.8

1.6

-4.9

-2.6

1.5

1.8

5.2

7.6

0.5

3.7

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional

Source: Eurostat

Although  total  final  electricity  consumption  increased  by
29% in 2005 compared with 1990, the picture is very mixed
when  looking  at  individual  countries:  in  fact,  six  Member
States registered consumption below the level they had in
1990.  Some  of  the  decreases  registered  were  as  high  as
34% in Lithuania and 31% in Latvia (see Table 2.3). 

However,  the  origin  of  the  decreases  in  the  Eastern
European  Member  States  goes  back  to  the  early  1990s,
when  consumption  (especially  industrial)  fell  drastically.
The second half of the 1990s saw either stabilisation or a
slight  increase  in  consumption,  but  still  well  short  of  the
levels in 1990.

Conversely,  other  countries  heavily  increased  their
electricity  consumption  between  1990  and  2005,  e.g.
Cyprus (+126%), Ireland (+105%), Portugal (+97%), Spain
(+93%), Malta (+89%) and Greece (+79%).

From 2004 to 2005, an increase of 1.4% was registered at
EU-27  level.  However,  Latvia,  Ireland,  Cyprus  and  Spain
reported  notably  higher  rates  (between  5%  and  6%).
Slovakia and Malta showed the most noticeable decreases
(-4.9% and -4.3% respectively).

28

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Page 29

Figure 2.4: Development of  final electricity consumption, by sector of  activity, EU-27 (1990=100)

2. Consumption

150

140

130

120

110

100

90

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Industry

Transport

Households / Services

Source: Eurostat

Figure 2.4 shows the long-term development of electricity
consumption at EU-27 level individually by sector. Whereas
the  consumption  of  households/services  and  transport
shows  a  fairly  constant  increase  throughout  the  period
observed,  that  of  industry  decreased  noticeably  at  the
beginning of the 1990s, and regained its 1990 level only by
1996. At EU-15 level, however, this decrease could not be
observed.

The fall in electricity consumption can partly be attributed to
the  economic  situation  in  a  number  of  the  central  and
eastern European countries that joined the EU in May 2004
and in January 2007 (see also the next section). During the

early  1990s,  production  facilities  in  these  countries  were
frequently  closed  down  or  production  output  massively
reduced.  

Those countries that initially experienced a serious decline
saw industrial electricity consumption rise again during the
second half of the 1990s.

When  total  electricity  consumption  is  related  to  the
population  (see  Figure  2.5),  consumption  at  EU-27  level
amounted to 5.6 GWh per 1000 inhabitants (or 5 600 kWh
per  inhabitant).  Unsurprisingly,  this  average  increased  to
6.3 GWh for the EU-15 before the two enlargements.  

Figure 2.5: Total final electricity consumption (in GWh) per 1000 inhabitants, 2005

03

52

02

51

01

5

0

3.6

6.5

-UE
72

-UE
51



3.62

2.42

4.51

7.41

5.31

8.1

8.1

3.2

5.2

6.2

2.3

2.3

3.3

2.4

3.4

4.4

5.4

6.4

1.5

2.5

4.5

6.5

7.5

9.5

2.6

3.6

4.6

4.6

7.6

9.6

7.7

LEEETPTMKSGBRHUHLPVLTLORRT

SIONIFESULEBTARFLNISEDKDEIKUSEZCYCTI

Source: Eurostat

29

Chapter2_Energy:chapter1

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2. Consumption

Table 2.6: Member States' shares in final electricity

consumption, 2005 (%)

Total final 
consumption

Industry

Transport

Households/
Services

Disparities among the EU Member States are considerable:
whereas just 1.8 GWh/1000 inhabitants was registered for
Romania,  the  figure  was  15.4  for  Finland.  Sweden  and
Luxembourg  were  also  at  the  high  end  of  the  scale  with
corresponding figures of 14.7 and 13.5 respectively.

As  a  highly  industrialised  country,  Germany  registered  an
industrial  electricity  consumption  of  nearly  232  thousand
GWh in 2005 (see also the next section). This corresponds
to 21% of total industrial consumption at EU-27 level (see
Table  2.6).  Italy  and  France  followed  with  shares  of  13%
and  12%,  respectively.  Taken  together,  these  three
countries  were  responsible  for  nearly  half  of  the  EU's
industrial electricity consumption. 

In transport too, Germany took the highest share with close
to 22% of the EU-27 total. Having a highly developed (high-
speed) rail network, France came second at 16.5%.

With  regard  to  consumption  by  households  and  services,
the highest share was held by France with 18% of the EU
total, closely followed by Germany with 17%. In third place
came the United Kingdom with a share of 14%. 

EU-25

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

100

88.7

2.9

0.9

2.0

1.2

100

88.2

3.5

0.9

2.1

0.9

100

86.1

2.3

0.6

2.9

0.5

100

89.2

2.5

1.0

1.9

1.5

18.8

20.6

21.9

17.3

0.2

0.9

1.8

8.8

15.3

10.9

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.2

1.2

0.1

3.8

2.1

3.6

1.7

1.4

0.5

0.8

2.9

4.8

0.2

0.7

1.3

9.3

11.9

12.8

0.0

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.8

0.0

3.7

2.1

3.7

1.5

2.1

0.6

1.0

3.8

5.1

0.1

0.1

0.3

7.2

16.5

12.7

0.0

0.2

0.1

0.1

1.5

-

2.2

4.2

5.4

0.6

2.1

0.3

0.8

0.9

5.1

0.2

1.1

2.3

8.5

17.8

9.4

0.2

0.2

0.3

0.1

1.4

0.1

3.9

1.9

3.4

1.8

0.9

0.3

0.7

2.4

4.6

12.5

10.5

11.6

14.0

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional.

Source: Eurostat

30

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2.1.2 Electricity consumption of industry

Industrial electricity consumption in the EU-27 amounted to
close  to  1.1  million  GWh  in  2005,  an  increase  of  15%
compared with 1990, far less than that of overall electricity
consumption (+29%).

The  highly  industrialised  countries  (Germany,  France,
United Kingdom) were obviously the major consumers and

Table 2.7: Final electricity consumption - INDUSTRY (GWh)

2. Consumption

their  consumption  increases  compared  with  1990  were
turning around the EU average (with 12%, 17% and 18%
respectively). 

Ireland,  Spain  and  Cyprus  registered  considerable
increases 
industrial
consumption. 

(between  65%  and  71%) 

in 

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

978 517

956 387

1 068 719

1 102 576

1 127 339

1 127 410

805 352

830 825

950 252

976 543

993 010

994 175

30 523

18 552

26 922

8 730

34 605

12 167

18 406

9 432

39 868

8 584

18 944

10 049

39 975

9 197

20 550

9 728

40 367

9 713

22 358

10 043

39 423

9 838

23 145

10 261

207 821

204 724

221 926

231 785

233 842

232 104

2 956

4 485

12 109

63 279

114 666

110 839

332

3 190

5 460

2 617

13 751

0

33 237

17 711

42 744

12 219

38 281

5 969

15 008

32 518

53 955

100 643

6 004

27 343

2 559

45 810

1 751

5 767

12 066

60 609

123 607

119 517

397

1 425

2 705

3 166

8 380

489

36 835

19 074

42 410

13 227

23 343

4 943

9 146

36 274

52 013

99 909

2 747

35 747

2 847

47 671

1 831

7 727

13 547

85 640

134 656

141 847

446

1 433

2 294

3 852

8 799

504

40 600

20 862

40 453

15 954

19 909

5 529

9 741

42 674

56 938

2 031

7 276

14 156

98 345

133 840

144 368

515

1 605

2 630

3 978

9 585

556

40 701

21 800

40 189

16 820

22 337

6 588

10 250

44 306

56 107

2 135

6 886

13 987

101 525

136 677

144 197

537

1 634

2 744

4 191

9 497

550

41 362

23 636

42 424

17 086

25 258

6 755

10 724

46 111

57 194

2 161

7 673

14 419

105 036

133 894

144 763

546

1 700

2 833

3 979

9 271

534

41 585

24 215

41 317

17 172

23 684

7 172

11 034

43 261

57 558

114 112

113 358

115 906

118 832

3 038

46 089

5 240

51 566

3 414

53 697

5 867

47 763

3 530

58 042

5 917

51 277

3 498

60 671

5 889

52 467

Change
2004-2005
(%)

0.01

0.1

-2.3

1.3

3.5

2.2

-0.7

1.2

11.4

3.1

3.5

-2.0

0.4

1.7

4.0

3.2

-5.1

-2.4

-2.9

0.5

2.4

-2.6

0.5

-6.2

6.2

2.9

-6.2

0.6

2.5

-0.9

4.5

-0.5

2.3

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO



Source: Eurostat

31

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2. Consumption

As mentioned earlier, the marked decline in consumption in
a number of central and eastern European Member States
can partly be attributed to the prevailing economic situation
in  the  early  1990s.  If  the  2005  figures  are  compared  with
those of 1999, the growth rates are largely positive.

households.  Consumption  in  Ireland  increased  most
(+11.4%),  ahead  of  Slovenia  (6.2%).  Nine  countries
reported a decrease, of which that of Romania and Finland
(both at -6.2%) were the most marked.

Between  2004  and  2005,  the  electricity  consumption  of
industry  increased  at  about  the  same  rate  as  that  of

Noticeable is Turkey's massive increase: due to a generally
strong economic growth, industrial electricity consumption
more than doubled between 1990 and 2005. 

Figure 2.8: Breakdown of  industrial electricity consumption: main categories, EU-27

-nonrehtO
deifissalc
%31

5991

leetsdnanorI
%31

5002

leetsdnanorI
%21

-nonrehtO
deifissalc
%51

&gnireenignE
latemrehto
%31

gnitnirpdnarepaP
%21

rehtael,elitxeT
gnihtolcdna
%4

&knird,dooF
occabot
%9

noitcartxeerO
)sleuf.lcxe(
%2

latemsuorref-noN
%7

lacimehC
%91

cillatem-noN
stcudorplarenim
%8

&gnireenignE
latemrehto
%41

gnitnirpdnarepaP
%31

latemsuorref-noN
%7

lacimehC
%81

cillatem-noN
stcudorplarenim
%7

rehtael,elitxeT
gnihtolcdna
%3

&knird,dooF
occabot
%01

noitcartxeerO
)sleuf.lcxe(
%1

Note: Chemical, Ore extraction (excl. fuels), Food, drink & tobacco, Textile, leather and clothing, Engineering & other metal, Other non-classified: provisional data.
EU-27 data for 2005 are provisional.
Source: Eurostat

Looking  at  the  various  industrial  sectors,  the  chemical
industry  was  responsible  for  the  lion's  share  of  industrial
electricity consumption: in 2005, it accounted for 18% (see
Figure 2.8). The metal industries (combination of iron and
steel  and  non-ferrous  metal  industries)  recorded  a  near
identical share (19%). 

The data for 1995 reveal that no major shift occurred during
the last decade. The chemical industry's share fell slightly
in  2005.  However,  the  'residual'  category  ('Other  non-

classified industries') grew from 13% to 15%, reflecting the
increased  difficulties  in  attributing  activities  to  a  defined
branch. 

Industrial  electricity  consumption  per  1000  inhabitants  is
outlined in Figure 2.9. The EU-27 average was 2.3 GWh (or
2  300  kWh  per  inhabitant).  Many  Member  States  were
below  this  average.  Values  were  particularly  high  in  the
Nordic countries, but also in Luxembourg, mainly due to the
presence of energy-intensive industries.

Figure 2.9: Final electricity consumption of  industry: consumption (GWh) per 1000 inhabitants, 2005

20

15

10

5

0

2.3

2.6

EU-
27

EU-
15

19.8

11.3

8.2

8.7

6.4

0.7

0.7

0.8

0.8

0.8

0.9

1.1

1.1

1.3

1.3

1.3

1.6

1.6

1.8

1.9

2.0

2.0

2.1

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.5

2.8

2.9

3.6

3.8

CY LV HR LT TR HU PL RO BG EL MT EE PT IE DK UK SK FR CZ ES IT NL DE AT SI BE SE FI

LU NO IS

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat

32

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2.1.3 Electricity consumption of the transport sector

A very large proportion of energy consumed in the transport
sector  consists  of  hydrocarbons.  Electricity  in  transport  is
essentially  used  for  railways,  tramways  and  subways.
Within  the  global  rail  vehicle  stock,  the  share  of  electric
locomotives is rising. 

The  very  small  amount  of  electricity  used  to  power  road
vehicles is in most cases statistically not accounted for in
the category 'transport'. 

Table 2.10: Final electricity consumption - TRANSPORT (GWh)

2. Consumption

Between  1990  and  2005,  electricity  used  in  transport
increased  by  17%,  from  63  574  GWh  to  74  108  GWh.  If
only  the  EU-15  Member  States  are  considered,  the
increase amounted to 35%. 

that 

Transport  statistics  show 
increasing
performance of goods transport has largely been absorbed
by  road  transport.  Passenger  rail  transport  remains
important  but  the  density  of  the  railway  network  varies
considerably between countries.

the  ever 

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

63 574

47 401

1 249

1 305

3 167

211

67 105

54 265

1 455

803

2 327

237

71 076

59 635

1 440

453

2 305

348

72 325

61 271

1 490

436

2 182

353

73 123

62 419

1 502

421

2 168

370

74 108

63 834

1 675

413

2 136

375

13 668

16 191

15 910

16 144

16 200

16 200

174

16

124

3 669

8 880

6 276

21

201

210

53

1 186

-

1 273

3 490

5 337

310

3 184

224

1 164

425

2 474

5 283

368

345

-

830

116

18

149

3 937

9 697

7 272

33

153

86

77

1 025

-

1 478

2 871

4 575

299

2 173

170

1 379

465

2 718

7 401

230

356

-

91

26

227

4 163

11 681

8 086

22

114

50

97

1 015

-

1 630

3 312

4 329

360

1 832

265

965

538

3 194

8 623

270

765

-

97

23

237

5 124

12 055

8 992

30

115

53

104

1 045

-

1 585

3 052

4 398

435

1 793

179

726

627

2 838

8 212

267

713

-

99

51

238

5 235

12 407

9 113

31

116

54

105

1 093

-

1 648

3 023

4 246

464

1 578

190

708

630

2 989

8 444

263

596

-

103

59

199

5 363

12 211

9 414

31

120

56

95

1 096

-

1 608

3 090

3 987

472

1 562

198

572

648

3 816

8 609

275

627

-

1 681

1 542

1 660

1 476

1 547

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

1.3

2.3

11.5

-1.9

-1.5

1.4

0.0

4.0

15.7

-16.4

2.4

-1.6

3.3

0.0

3.4

3.7

-9.5

0.3

-

-2.4

2.2

-6.1

1.7

-1.0

4.2

-19.2

2.9

27.7

2.0

4.6

5.2

-

4.8

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat



33

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2. Consumption

Despite  the  relatively  strong  position  of  rail  transport  in
Central  and  Eastern  Europe  in  general,  more  or  less
marked decreases can be observed in many of the central
and  eastern  European  Member  States  when  comparing
2005 with 1990. 

Comparing 2005 figures with those of a year earlier, there
was  a  modest  1.3%  increase  at  EU-27  level.  Sweden
reported  the  highest  increase  (27.7%),  while  the  most
marked decrease was seen in Slovakia (-19.2%). 

When  electricity  consumption  in  the  transport  sector  in
2005 is related to the population (see Figure 2.11), Sweden
registered  the  highest  consumption  among  the  various
countries: 0.42 GWh per 1000 inhabitants (or 420 kWh per
inhabitant) much higher than EU's corresponding figure of
0.15.  Austria  came  second  with  0.38,  while  Luxembourg
and  the  Czech  Republic  marked  0.21  GWh  per  1000
inhabitants. 

Figure 2.11: Final electricity consumption of  the transport sector: consumption (GWh) per 1000 inhabitants, 2005

0.50

0.45

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.25

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00

0.16

0.15

EU-
27

EU-
15

0.42

0.38

0.33

0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02

0.04 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.08

0.10 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.11

0.12 0.12

0.19 0.20 0.21 0.21

0.16 0.16

0.14

TR IE

LT EL CY PT LV BG HR DK RO EE NL

SI

PL SK HU FI

ES UK BE

IT

FR DE LU CZ NO AT SE

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat

2.1.4 Electricity consumption of households and services

As appearing in Graph 2.1 at the beginning of this section,
the  electricity  consumption  of  households  and  services
constitutes  the  largest  single  category  with  over  56%  of
total final electricity consumption at EU level. It should be
noted  that  the  consumption  of  the  agricultural  sector  is
included in this category, though its weight is generally low. 

At EU-27 level, this category showed an increase of 41%
compared with 1990. In recent years too, consumption has
continued to grow at a relatively fast pace: between 2000
and 2005, the increase amounted to nearly 13%. 

'Households/services'  is  quite  a  heterogeneous  category
and  consumption  depends  on  a  large  number  of  factors
such as the importance of the service sector in a country's
economy,  the  penetration  of  electrical  appliances  in
households,  the  proportion  of  houses  heated  (general
heating and/or hot water) by electricity and the production
structure  of  the  agricultural  sector  (artificial  lighting  in
greenhouses), to name but a few.

34

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2. Consumption

Turkey deserves special mentioning, where a fast growing
population,  rapid  urbanisation  as  well  as  generally  strong
economic  growth  caused  nearly  a  four-fold  increase  of
electricity  consumption  between  1990  and  2005.
Nevertheless, per capita consumption remained one of the
lowest among the countries observed (see Figure 2.13).

Among  the  EU  Member  States,  a  range  of  southern
European countries recorded high increases for this period
too,  notably  Portugal  (160%),  Cyprus  (141%),  Spain
(124%)  and  Greece  (123%).  One  factor  of  influence  for
some  countries  might  be  the  increased  use  of  air
conditioning systems.

A  similarly  strong  increase  in  more  northern  European
countries was seen only in Ireland (126%). Only moderate
increases  compared  with  1990  were  observed  in  Estonia
(2%), Poland (11%), Sweden (11%) and Denmark (12%).

Looking  at  the  changes  between  2004  and  2005,  an
level.
increase  of  2.5%  was  registered  at  EU-27 
Significantly  above  this  average  were  Romania  (16%),
Latvia  (6.9%),  Spain  and  Cyprus  (both  +6.4%).  Three
Member States reported a decrease, the most important of
which  was  that  of  Slovakia  (-10.7%).  Beyond  the  EU
borders, it is noteworthy that Turkey continued its upward
trend with a high annual increase (+10.5%).

Table 2.12: Final electricity consumption - HOUSEHOLDS / SERVICES (GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

1 099 968

1 225 378

1 376 039

1 491 066

1 516 993

1 554 460

960 723

1 083 529

1 219 711

1 325 228

1 352 027

1 385 902

26 212

15 415

18 088

20 331

32 379

15 719

27 293

21 213

36 231

15 095

28 102

22 057

38 212

15 477

29 644

22 289

38 734

14 748

29 275

22 615

39 084

15 427

29 965

22 878

225 000

231 636

244 767

261 336

263 285

269 200

3 675

7 367

16 237

58 851

178 366

96 985

1 401

4 875

6 341

1 457

16 656

910

39 013

21 464

48 010

11 015

13 085

3 547

7 242

26 000

63 918

2 617

9 066

21 872

76 365

209 273

110 947

1 793

2 852

3 554

1 753

18 338

770

44 764

24 031

42 599

15 278

10 838

4 271

11 205

28 478

69 842

3 047

12 535

29 377

98 656

238 566

122 614

2 528

2 892

3 827

1 767

19 627

1 063

55 708

27 862

51 945

22 059

12 171

4 727

11 304

32 234

68 593

3 445

15 734

34 205

116 519

262 353

137 604

3 100

3 460

4 459

1 933

20 766

1 261

58 234

29 832

53 602

25 909

13 335

5 280

12 009

35 922

70 498

3 658

16 121

35 513

123 909

270 552

141 732

3 181

3 631

4 814

2 081

21 228

1 248

60 108

29 027

53 087

27 118

11 900

5 601

12 595

36 387

70 178

3 759

16 620

36 286

131 823

276 418

146 199

3 383

3 881

5 041

2 084

21 969

1 186

61 314

29 491

53 531

28 678

13 800

5 372

11 244

37 026

70 999

168 507

186 632

206 685

214 648

214 667

217 802

6 846

17 264

1 351

50 168

6 917

29 030

1 412

54 414

8 488

49 019

1 671

56 425

9 241

55 954

1 674

53 731

9 853

60 845

1 843

55 162

10 582

67 220

1 910

57 901

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

2.5

2.5

0.9

4.6

2.4

1.2

2.2

2.8

3.1

2.2

6.4

2.2

3.2

6.4

6.9

4.7

0.1

3.5

-5.0

2.0

1.6

0.8

5.8

16.0

-4.1

-10.7

1.8

1.2

1.5

7.4

10.5

3.6

5.0

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat



35

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2. Consumption

In 2005, per capita consumption was highest in Norway by
a  large  margin  (12  500  kWh  per  inhabitant  -  see  Figure
2.13). The  main  reasons  for  the  high  degree  of  electricity
use are the historically low electricity prices combined with
abundant  hydropower. 
In  Scandinavian  countries,
electricity  is  widely  used  to  heat  buildings  and  water.
Combined  with  a  cold  climate,  this  drives  up  household
electricity use to high levels. 

Sweden  and  Finland  registered  a  per  capita  consumption
of  more  than  twice  the  EU-27  average  (3  200  kWh  per
inhabitant), whereas Romania was at the other end of the
scale with just 600 kWh per inhabitant.

Figure 2.13: Final electricity consumption of  households / services: consumption (GWh) per 1000 inhabitants, 2005

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

3.6

3.2

EU-
27

EU-
15

12.5

7.9

7.1

6.4

1.4

1.5

1.7

2.0

2.1

2.2

0.9

0.6

2.4

2.5

2.7

2.7

2.8

2.9

2.9

3.0

3.3

3.3

3.6

3.6

3.7

3.8

4.0

4.2

4.4

4.5

4.6

RO TR PL

LT LV BG SK HU HR IT

SI PT EE CZ MT ES DE EL AT UK BE NL

IE DK FR CY LU IS

FI SE NO

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat

2.2 Natural gas consumption 

2.2.1 Total consumption of natural gas

Natural gas is composed mainly of methane. Pure methane
is  highly  flammable,  is  sulphur-free,  and  burns  easily  and
almost completely, apart from emitting very few pollutants.
It  has  lower  nitrogen-oxide  and  carbon-dioxide  emissions
than other fossil fuels.

Pipeline  networks  were  built  to  enable  trading  and
production increased quickly. Today however, consumption
exceeds  domestic  production  and  the  European  Union  is
increasingly dependent on gas imports from outside the EU
(see also next section).

Natural  gas  only  started  to  make  inroads  in  European
energy  consumption  following  the  discovery  of  major
domestic resources (essentially in the Netherlands in 1959
and the United Kingdom in the 1960s). Apart from having a
deep impact on their national energy systems, it has also
engendered  major  spin-offs  for  other  Western  European
countries. 

The  present  section  looks  at  the  final  consumption  of
natural gas in industry, transport and households/services.
It  excludes  the  consumption  of  derived  gases,  such  as
manufactured  gases,  comprising  coke-oven  gas.  Blast
furnace gas and gasworks gas are also excluded. 

Consumption of gas by the energy sector is considered at
the end of this chapter.

36

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2. Consumption

Figure 2.14: Final consumption of  natural gas by sector of  activity, EU-27 (%)

1990

2005

Transport
0.1%

Transport
0.2%

Industry
46.1%

Industry
37.0%

Househ. / 
Services
53.8%

Househ. / 
Services
62.8%

Note: Industry and Households/Services data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat

Figure 2.15: Final consumption of  natural gas in individual

countries, share by sector of  activity, 2005 (%)

Between  1990  and  2005,  a  41%  increase  in  natural  gas
consumption was observed at EU-27 level, from 9.7 million
TJ to 12.9 million TJ (see Table 2.16). As shown in Figure
2.14,  households  and  services  was  the  largest  consumer
category, both in 1990 and in 2005. Their share increased
to  63%  of  the  total  to  the  detriment  of  the  industry.  The
share  of  the  transport  sector  remained  marginal  (0.2%  in
2005). 

Looking  at  the  situation  at  country  level,  only  Greece,
Bulgaria, Sweden and Norway reported noticeable shares
for transport (between 2.3% and 4.5%), while twelve of the
EU  Member  States  did  not  register  natural  gas
consumption in transport at all. Natural gas in the transport
sector is used in a compressed or liquefied form in vehicles
(see further).

Industry  has  a  particularly  high  share  of  natural  gas
consumption  in  Finland  (91%),  Bulgaria  (89%)  and
Slovenia (81%), but also in Norway (82%). 

the
Although  both  major  natural  gas  producers, 
Netherlands and the United Kingdom registered low shares
for industrial consumption with 29% and 23%, respectively.
Hungary was the only other country to have an even lower
share  with  17%.  The  considerable  volumes  consumed  in
these  latter  countries  hence  go  on  households  and
services, primarily for heating and/or cooking purposes.

72-UE

51-UE

IF

GB

ON

IS

SE

TP

LE

ES

UL

VL

TL

OR

TA

EE

RH

KD

EB

ZC

TI

RF

LP

ED

EI

KS

LN

RT

KU

UH

%0

%02

%04

%06

%08

%001

yrtsudnI

tropsnarT

secivreS/sdlohesuoH

Source: Eurostat



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2. Consumption

Regarding the evolution of natural gas consumption in the
EU-15  Member  States,  there  was  a  global  increase  of
47.5% between 1990 and 2005 (see Table 2.16). 

Among the older EU countries, Spain registered the largest
increase with 347%. The fastest development took place in
the  second  half  of  the  1990s.  Ireland  came  second  with
+135%,  a  long  way  ahead  of  Austria  and  the  Czech
Republic with +77% and 70%, respectively. 

The Netherlands, a major gas producer for over 40 years,
registered a slight decrease. Since the discovery of natural
gas in the north of the country in 1959, the economy has

Table 2.16: Total final consumption of  natural gas (in TJ-GCV)

largely adapted its energy needs to this source. With a total
consumption  of  923  thousand  TJ  in  2005,  this  relatively
small  Member  State  used  almost  three  times  as  much
natural gas than a much larger country such as Poland. 

Finland showed a tendency towards decline, although the
overall  decrease  of  35%  between  1990  and  2005  can
mainly  be  attributed  to  the  lower  values  registered  from
2003 onwards. In Finland, natural gas is primarily used for
industrial  purposes  and  consumption  by  households
remains marginal (see also Figure 2.15).

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

9 724 253

10 795 834

11 854 089

12 777 990

13 017 286

12 948 362

7 681 320

9 245 516

10 390 699

11 165 070

11 387 119

11 329 179

297 760

90 422

168 128

52 191

368 900

72 289

238 713

77 263

439 428

43 603

274 014

76 841

449 061

37 884

292 792

80 394

463 253

36 822

287 782

78 541

442 540

43 327

286 316

78 530

1 712 320

2 303 495

2 463 827

2 737 608

2 805 000

2 750 900

20 425

26 445

0

6 022

37 010

0

6 256

55 848

11 967

11 669

59 419

17 933

9 673

61 631

21 465

9 632

62 213

27 193

183 778

298 908

549 827

712 777

761 617

821 226

1 024 319

1 203 141

1 387 483

1 496 088

1 523 904

1 529 800

1 336 299

1 565 733

1 749 680

1 905 620

1 953 702

2 034 235

-

31 253

69 010

19 533

-

17 045

23 719

23 929

-

15 294

16 893

28 975

-

21 228

20 105

29 460

-

22 885

22 367

31 617

-

23 628

23 408

31 526

262 741

283 900

296 130

349 323

348 363

359 897

-

-

964 169

1 023 163

120 369

267 174

0

923 608

28 068

182 104

56 999

15 558

154 562

280 882

0

441 346

21 776

164 626

55 807

17 159

-

958 318

177 120

290 778

36 773

300 095

26 464

193 863

44 292

20 623

-

987 437

193 983

329 727

56 110

353 888

29 438

166 866

42 094

23 117

-

983 869

200 204

344 862

59 560

372 061

30 978

154 374

36 676

22 341

-

923 153

213 070

358 903

60 805

332 763

30 926

150 383

36 974

22 842

1 871 580

2 116 446

2 389 697

2 373 969

2 383 739

2 294 172

40 295

24 868

-

0

41 770

100 667

-

0

46 546

222 457

-

8 085

52 577

335 888

-

8 475

54 412

368 548

-

9 922

57 323

440 097

-

10 514

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-0.5

-0.5

-4.5

17.7

-0.5

0.0

-1.9

-0.4

0.9

26.7

7.8

0.4

4.1

-

3.2

4.7

-0.3

3.3

-

-6.2

6.4

4.1

2.1

-10.6

-0.2

-2.6

0.8

2.2

-3.8

5.3

19.4

-

6.0

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat

38

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Looking at the short-term development between 2004 and
2005,  a  moderate  decrease  of  0.5%  in  total  natural  gas
consumption  was  seen  for  the  EU-27  as  a  whole,
compared to an increase of 1.4% for electricity. However,
results  at  national  level  are  highly  individual.  Indeed,
whereas  total  final  natural  gas  consumption  in  Romania
decreased  by  10.6%,  an  increase  of  26.7%  was  reported
for Greece. Noticeable increases were also registered for
Bulgaria (17.7%), Spain (7.8%) and Austria (6.4%). 

The  most  striking  growth  was  observed  beyond  the 
EU  borders:  consumption  in  Turkey  grew  from  roughly 
25  thousand  TJ  in  1990  to  440  thousand  TJ  in  2005.
Between 2004 and 2005 alone, consumption increased by
close to 20%. 
three  main
Taking  1990  as  a  starting  point, 
consumption  categories  showed  a  globally  positive

the 

2. Consumption

development  at  EU-27  level  (see  Figure  2.17).  Industrial
consumption of natural gas decreased in the early 1990s,
notably  influenced  by  the  earlier  mentioned  structural
changes  in  the  central  and  eastern  European  industries,
remained  stable  between  1996  and  1999,  before  an
unspectacular  and  linear  increase.  A  roughly  similar
tendency  can  be  observed  for  the  consumption  of
households/services,  despite  the  fact  that  the  periods
1990/1991  and  1995/1996  were  marked  by  a  noticeable
increase. 

Consumption by the transport sector, though at a low level
in  absolute  terms,  followed  the  overall  trend  for  the  other
sectors until 1999, before registering spectacular increases
in 2000 and 2001. The influence of a single country, Italy, is
considerable.

Figure 2.17: Development of  final consumption of  natural gas, by sector of  activity, EU-27 (1990=100)

240

220

200

180

160

140

120

100

80

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Industry

Transport

Households / Services

Note: Data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat



39

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2. Consumption

Table 2.18: Member States' share in final consumption of

natural gas, 2005 (%)

Total final 
consumption

Industry Transport

Households /
Services

Nearly  one-fifth  of  EU-27 
industrial  natural  gas
consumption  was  in  Germany  (18.7%).  Italy  had  the
second  most  important  share  with  16.3%,  followed  by
Spain,  France  and  the  United  Kingdom  with  12.9%,  12%
and 11.2%, respectively (see Table 2.18).

Many  countries  do  not  use  natural  gas  for  transport
purposes: 13 Member States do not report quantities in this
category and 5 others recorded negligible amounts. 

Italy  stands  out  in  this  sector  with  close  to  75%  of  the 
EU-27 total. France and Bulgaria come next, with 9.2% and
3.8% of the 2005 total respectively. 

With  the  further  need  for  sustainable  development,  and
substantial  technological  progress  in  the  automotive
industry on NGVs (Natural Gas Vehicles), more countries
can be expected to report natural gas consumption in the
transport sector in future. 

Natural gas consumption per 1000 inhabitants in 2005 (see
Figure 2.19) showed a particularly wide range: the lowest
value  was  registered  for  Norway  (2.3  TJ  per  1000
inhabitants) whereas Luxembourg ranged at the other end
of  the  scale  with  68.9 TJ,  a  consumption  nearly  30  times
higher, and more than double the EU-15 average (29.2 TJ).

EU-27

100

100

100

100

EU-15

87.5

86.8

92.1

87.9

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

3.4

0.3

2.2

0.6

3.9

0.8

2.3

0.7

21.2

18.7

0.1

0.5

0.2

6.3

11.8

15.7

0.0

0.2

0.2

0.2

2.8

0.0

7.1

1.6

2.8

0.5

2.6

0.2

1.2

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.4

0.4

12.9

12.0

16.3

-

0.3

0.3

0.4

1.3

-

5.6

2.4

2.7

0.9

3.9

0.5

0.9

0.7

0.3

17.7

11.2

-

3.8

1.8

-

-

-

-

2.3

0.0

9.2

75.0

-

0.3

-

-

0.5

-

-

0.0

-

0.0

0.0

-

1.6

0.0

3.0

-

3.2

0.0

2.1

0.6

22.8

0.1

0.5

0.1

2.5

11.7

15.2

-

0.1

0.1

0.1

3.7

-

8.1

1.2

2.8

0.2

1.8

0.1

1.3

0.0

0.1

21.6

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional.

Source: Eurostat

Figure 2.19: Total consumption of  natural gas, 2005 - in TJ-GCV per 1 000 inhabitants 

08

07

06

05

04

03

3.62

2.92

02

01

0

-UE
72

-UE
51

9.86

6.65

2.24

1.83

7.43

7.53

4.33

4.42

9.52

9.72

0.82

3.2

4.2

5.2

6.5

8.5

1.6

9.6

0.7

2.7

5.41

0.51

4.51

5.51

9.81

4.9

3.01

9.21

LEON

TPGBES

TLRT

IF

EE

LP

KDRHVL

ISOREI

EDZCKSTARFSE

TI

LNEBKUUH

UL

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat

40

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2.2.2 Natural gas consumption by the industry

At EU-27 level, 37% of total final natural gas consumption
can be attributed to the industrial sector. However, this EU
average  does  not  express  the  varying  results  at  country
level (Figure 2.15), ranging from 91% in Finland to 17% in
Hungary. 

Industrial consumption of natural gas has increased since
1990: in 2005, it stood at close to 4.8 million TJ, 7% higher

2. Consumption

than  in  1990.  The  2004  and  2005  consumption  figures
were virtually identical (see Table 2.20).

At Member State level, Spain posted the most impressive
growth (291% between 1990 and 2005). No other country
came close to these growth figures except Turkey. 

Table 2.20: Final consumption of  natural gas - INDUSTRY (in TJ-GCV)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

EU-27

EU-15

4 485 164

4 302 967

4 699 043

4 851 898

4 794 939

4 794 885

3 100 403

3 506 742

4 083 662

4 205 353

4 144 155

4 162 632

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

NO

134 092

89 572

83 146

24 894

793 012

17 329

16 638

0

158 070

427 522

603 391

-

20 433

41 217

12 989

149 075

-

303 053

75 924

115 575

0

160 319

71 354

121 517

36 320

895 153

3 664

17 108

0

241 279

479 458

688 244

-

9 591

10 150

15 412

84 471

-

284 510

80 832

88 591

0

779 979

336 959

26 408

62 027

55 046

11 762

19 235

50 693

53 094

11 675

214 368

42 424

121 028

36 197

895 827

3 691

21 867

11 341

425 685

574 433

773 402

-

9 647

9 501

19 191

63 741

-

267 167

97 712

105 541

30 648

184 973

22 867

51 968

41 366

14 075

484 010

543 338

660 383

28 971

22 978

0

21 653

48 427

0

23 393

77 540

8 006

204 034

35 663

117 342

34 853

892 399

6 690

20 310

15 281

540 839

622 732

789 137

-

12 782

11 549

18 496

68 291

-

274 699

97 333

112 079

42 709

212 185

23 214

46 750

38 702

15 448

598 381

22 827

104 831

7 901

205 857

33 894

115 521

33 263

883 000

4 873

20 163

17 336

574 421

565 174

800 261

-

13 231

12 629

19 849

60 530

-

278 800

100 977

125 831

44 020

220 750

23 759

39 766

33 204

14 605

553 225

24 495

113 872

8 819

185 980

38 607

112 496

33 309

894 900

5 089

19 887

19 801

618 073

576 212

783 678

-

13 714

13 476

19 584

61 393

-

267 541

115 386

129 549

44 469

187 687

25 158

45 084

33 462

14 893

535 457

24 559

125 998

8 568

Change
2004-2005
(%)

0.0

0.4

-9.7

13.9

-2.6

0.1

1.3

4.4

-1.4

14.2

7.6

2.0

-2.1

-

3.7

6.7

-1.3

1.4

-

-4.0

14.3

3.0

1.0

-15.0

5.9

13.4

0.8

2.0

-3.2

0.3

10.6

-2.8

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat



41

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2. Consumption

Compared  with  1990,  Austria  and  Luxembourg  also
reported  noticeable 
(+52%  and  +51%,
increases 
in  more  recent  years,
respectively),  but  whereas 
Luxembourg's consumption figures have remained stable;
those of Austria continue to increase at a fast pace.

Apart  from  quite  marked  decreases  in  certain  central  and
eastern  European  Member  States, 
the  negative
development in Finland stands out. 

In 1990, Romania's industrial natural gas consumption still
exceeded that of Germany. Massive structural changes in

the  industry  have  resulted  in  very  substantial  drops  in
consumption.  Industrial  consumption  registered  in  2005
amounted  to  less  than  a  quarter  of  the  consumption  in
1990. 

Referring  to  the  development  between  2004  and  2005, 
8 out of 25 Member States reported decreases, the largest
being  in  Romania  and  Belgium  (-15%  and  -9.7%,
respectively).  Conversely,  increases  of  around  14%  were
reported by Austria, Greece, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

2.2.3 Natural gas consumption by the transport sector

In the transport sector, natural gas is used in compressed
form (CNG) or liquefied form (LNG). CNG is used in special
CNG  vehicles,  where  it  is  stored  in  high-pressure  fuel
cylinders. Such vehicles are attracting increasing interest,
as they have clean burning properties and produce fewer
exhaust  and  greenhouse  gas  emissions  than  vehicles
equipped  with  gasoline  or  diesel  engines.  CNG  vehicles
are  often  light  passenger  vehicles,  light  and  medium-duty
delivery trucks as well as city buses. More recently, many
vehicle manufacturers have started offering CNG vehicles
in their model range.

LNG vehicles are less common as they require additional
equipment  to  keep  the  natural  gas  cold  (and  thus  liquid).
These extra installations make its application more limited
for transport purposes, but it can for instance be found in
buses and train locomotives. 

It  is  estimated  that,  worldwide,  there  are  currently
approximately 5.5 million vehicles running on natural gas.
Such vehicles are particularly popular in Argentina, Brazil,

Pakistan and India. In Europe, Italy leads the way with an
estimated 500 000 natural gas vehicles on the road and a
network of about 500 refueling stations. 

Looking  at  Table  2.21,  it  then  comes  as  no  surprise  that
Italy has the largest proportion of natural gas dedicated to
transport in the EU. In 1990, 96% of the natural gas used
in the EU-27 for transport purposes was consumed in Italy.
This proportion was 91% in 2000 and still 75% in 2005. 

In  Sweden,  certain 

Italy's  gradually  decreasing  share  can  be  explained  by
increased  consumption  in  other  countries,  notably  in
larger
France  and  Sweden. 
municipalities  (such  als  Malmö  and  Göteborg)  have  been
introducing  city  buses  running  on  natural  gas,  offering
lower exhaust emissions and lower noise levels compared
to  diesel  buses.  A  similar  development  can  be  noted  in
France.  With  the  experimental  stage  long  over,  and  with
further development of the network of refuelling stations, it
is  expected  that  consumption  by  the  transport  sector  will
continue to increase in the coming years.

Table 2.21: Final energy consumption of  natural gas - TRANSPORT (in TJ-GCV)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

EU-27

EU-15
IT

FR

SE

Others*

10 049

9 704
9 697

7

0

345

11 632

11 429
11 299

18

112

203

16 777

16 347
15 202

86

472

1 161

21 249

19 584
16 953

1 764

813

2 169

21 723

20 558
16 801

1 980

717

2 807

23 611

21 739
17 717

2 178

715

3 621

Change
2004-2005
(%)

8.7

5.7
5.5

10.0

-0.3

29.0

* Others include the remaining EU Member States, Turkey and Norway.

Source: Eurostat

42

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2. Consumption

2.2.4 Natural gas consumption by households and services

As  mentioned  earlier  (Figure  2.14),  62.8%  of  total  final
natural  gas  consumption  at  EU  level  can  be  attributed  to
the category 'households/services'. The use of natural gas
in  this  sector  is  primarily  for  heating  (including  hot  water)
and cooking. However, the proportion of natural gas used
by  'households/services'  is  quite  low  in  a  number  of
countries  (such  as  in  Finland,  but  also  in  Bulgaria  and
especially  in  Norway  -  see  Figure  2.15).  As  mentioned
earlier,  the  natural  gas  consumption  of  the  agricultural
sector  is  included  in  this  category.  But  whereas  this  sub-
sector  normally  accounts  for  a  rather  small  share,
exceptions  exist:  the  10  500  hectares  of  greenhouses  in
the  Netherlands  for  instance  account  for  15%  of  the  total
final  natural  gas  consumption  of  that  country  and  21%  of
the 'households/services' category. 

A global 56% increase in consumption was registered both
at  EU-27  and  EU-15  level  between  1990  and  2005.
Particularly  high  increases  were  reported  in  Spain
(+690%), Bulgaria (+351%), Ireland (+332%) and Slovenia
(+248%).

The  development  was  largely  positive  in  most  other
Member  States  as  well,  although  the  Netherlands,  a
'mature' market since the large-scale introduction of natural
gas  in  the  1960s,  saw  its  consumption  decrease  by  1%
between  1990  and  2004.  In  fact,  during  this  time  span,
Dutch  natural  gas  consumption  peaked  in  1996  at  837
thousand TJ due to a relatively cold winter that year. It has
remained relatively stable ever since.

Table 2.22: Final energy consumption of  natural gas - HOUSEHOLDS / SERVICES (in TJ-GCV)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

5 229 040

6 481 235

7 138 269

7 904 843

8 200 624

8 129 866

4 571 213

5 727 345

6 290 690

6 939 159

7 222 443

7 144 808

163 668

208 581

225 060

245 027

257 396

256 560

850

84 982

27 297

935

117 196

40 943

1 179

152 797

40 644

2 221

175 110

45 541

2 658

171 769

45 278

3 832

173 402

45 221

919 308

1 408 342

1 568 000

1 845 209

1 922 000

1 856 000

3 096

9 807

0

25 708

596 790

723 211

-

10 481

27 793

6 544

2 358

19 902

0

57 629

723 665

866 190

-

7 417

13 569

8 517

-

5 572

7 392

9 784

113 660

199 391

232 311

-

661 116

44 445

151 599

0

-

738 653

73 730

192 291

0

-

691 151

79 408

185 237

6 074

143 629

104 259

115 034

1 660

2 541

3 597

2 565

33 981

626

123 659

812 964

4 979

39 109

2 157

171 938

871 592

4 800

41 468

3 636

187 196

956 750

4 543

42 326

6 840

203 153

951 410

961 076

1 099 530

1 136 640

1 232 840

-

8 371

8 556

10 964

280 939

-

712 738

96 650

217 648

12 988

141 703

6 224

-

9 579

9 738

11 768

287 742

-

705 069

99 227

219 031

15 130

151 311

7 219

-

9 839

9 932

11 942

298 380

-

655 612

97 684

229 354

15 879

145 076

5 768

120 077

113 933

141 895

119 933

114 334

104 932

1 953

3 796

2 713

5 372

2 873

6 076

3 272

6 856

3 352

7 019

3 392

7 234

1 387 570

1 573 108

1 729 314

1 775 588

1 830 514

1 758 715

11 324

1 890

-

0

20 117

52 240

-

0

23 153

144 797

-

55

29 750

230 892

-

289

29 917

254 521

-

676

32 764

313 954

-

1 471

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-0.9

-1.1

-0.3

44.2

1.0

-0.1

-3.4

-5.4

2.1

88.1

8.5

-0.6

8.5

-

2.7

2.0

1.5

3.7

-

-7.0

-1.6

4.7

5.0

-4.1

-20.1

-8.2

1.2

3.1

-3.9

9.5

23.4

-

117.6

Note: EU-27, EU-15 and ES data for 2005 are provisional. 

Source: Eurostat



43

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2. Consumption

in  other  consumption  categories, 

As 
the  negative
development  registered  for  a  number  of  central  and
eastern  European  might  be  influenced  by  the  different
sources of the early data for these countries. 

Starting from a low level in absolute terms, Turkey reported
the  most  spectacular  increase.  The  rapid  growth  in
population  together  with  increased  urbanisation  has
certainly  had  an  influence  here.  Aided  by  government
programmes,  many  households  have  switched  from
inefficient  coal  burners  to  natural  gas  units  for  space
heating. 

Turning  back  to  the  EU  and  looking  at  the  changes  from
2004  to  2005,  households  and  services  consumed  0.9%
less at EU-27 level. Keeping in mind the wide variation in
absolute  quantities,  the  highest  increase  was  reported  by
Greece 
(+88.1%).  Bulgaria  came  second  with  a
considerable increase of 44.2%. In contrast, Slovakia was
the  only  Member  State  to  experience  a  two-digit  relative
decrease (-20.1%).

2.3 Natural gas input to conventional thermal power stations

industry, 

The  previous  sections  have  described  natural  gas
consumption  separately 
transport  and
for 
households / services. However, a considerable quantity of
natural  gas  is  used  in  conventional  thermal  electricity-
generating  power  stations  (refer  to  Table  2.23).  In
Denmark, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Finland and Turkey,
the input to these power stations in 2005 exceeded by far
the  quantity  consumed 
transport  and
in 
households/services combined (see Table 2.16). 

industry, 

At EU-27 level in 2005, a total quantity of 5.8 million TJ of
natural  gas  was  used  to  fuel  power  stations,  154%  more
than 1990. In recent years, Luxembourg, Spain and Poland
have  seen  the  largest  increases  in  gas  inputs  to  power
stations.  Conversely,  Bulgaria,  Slovakia  and  Estonia 
(-19%,  -16%  and  -14%,  respectively)  have  reported  fairly
important decreases in inputs over the last 5 years.

Looking  back  to  the  1995-2000  period,  a  considerably
higher increase at EU-27 level could be observed. In fact,
the  +54%  at  EU-27  level  was  strongly  influenced  by  the
116%  and  99%  increases  registered  between  1995  and
2000  by  the  United  Kingdom  and  Italy,  respectively.  The
second  last  column  of  Table  2.23  might  show  higher
percentages  for  other  countries,  but  the  corresponding
absolute quantities do not have a substantial weight at EU
level. 

In absolute terms, the United Kingdom reported the highest
volume of natural gas used by conventional thermal power
plants in 2005: the 1.2 million TJ represented nearly 21%
of the EU-27 total, followed closely by the 1.17 million TJ
registered in Italy.

However, Germany considerably increased its natural gas
input  to  power  stations  (+57%  between  2000  and  2005).
The  total  quantity  amounted  to  811  901  TJ  in  2005.  The
United  Kingdom,  Italy  and  Germany  were  together
responsible for close to 55% of the EU total. 

Curves for Germany and Italy are also presented alongside
the  EU  aggregates  in  Figure  2.24. At  EU  level,  it  can  be
seen  that  the  input  to  power  stations  increased  almost 
3-fold  since  1990.  But  whereas  Italy  roughly  reflected  the
global  EU  trend,  Germany  recorded  a  far  more  moderate
growth.  

However,  the  most  noticeable  growth  was  in  the  United
Kingdom. Natural gas input to power plants increased more
than  23-fold  between  1990  (51 810 TJ)  and  2005 
(1 201 986 TJ) (Figure 2.25). Largest year-on-year increa-
ses were registered during the 1990s when dependence on
coal 
the
for  power  generation  was  reduced  with 
construction of natural gas fired power stations.

44

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Table 2.23: Natural gas: input to Conventional Thermal Power Stations (in TJ-GCV)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

EU-27

EU-15

2 282 340

2 836 875

4 373 933

5 269 523

5 512 426

5 800 384

1 516 976

2 292 884

3 932 335

4 731 092

4 985 148

5 276 517

146 236

183 960

181 792

188 782

2. Consumption

Change
1995-2000
(%)

Change
2000-2005
(%)

54

72

56

-51

101

117

8

143

72

9 076

257

444
99

-

36

65

15

27

-

18

-13

374

-

-43

-31

-19

31

-21

116

100

150
-

12

33

34

29

-19

-3

-5

57

-14

12

25

302

82

34
-

39

46

1 013

49
-

8

47

257

97

-3

-7

-16

14

-8

3

-1

70
-

69

Source: Eurostat

30 907

31 402

93 184

811 901

6 972

94 880

74 679

502 323

254 133
1 167 651

-

25 156

48 561

24 434
139 181

-
524 595

119 356

49 729

107 403

152 891

2 705

36 363

102 017

9 193

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

61 349

101 081

7 714

8 088

94 042

78 059

16 025

45 366

38 327

32 274

98 249

493 753

477 890

516 151

12 734

39 130

840

12 546

20 319
375 640

-

32 120

71 791

448
74 677

-

3 323

49 333

649

35 018

25 644
436 142

-

13 299

20 152

1 916
73 897

-

330 704

411 424

73 874

3 295

0

92 734

2 933

0

8 061

84 880

59 553

124 891

139 557
869 419

-

18 061

33 304

2 195
93 517

-
485 721

81 126

13 914

54 482

34 497

32 736

103 667

784 606

6 770

109 383

69 017

247 807

223 388
980 954

-

25 488

40 590

20 039
142 000

-
532 865

106 904

36 626

65 545

31 644

34 813

103 940

759 715

6 472

104 511

74 390

358 255

229 456
1 033 844

-

24 898

45 250

24 177
132 233

-
562 601

104 484

45 111

92 439

417 957

278 822

157 838

176 832

164 623

4 176

53 305

68 852

12 648

2 895

43 407

89 867

9 990

3 476

39 416

121 097

13 077

2 917

39 317

115 969

11 434

541 226

1 170 018

1 168 783

1 228 141

1 201 986

11 567

137 881
-

1 130

23 081

344 525
-

1 269

26 760

463 324
-

1 793

30 290

471 567
-

2 244

22 807

587 146
-

2 142

4 278

39 717

42 409

6 066

51 810

22 585

99 005
-

0



45

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2. Consumption

Figure 2.24: Long-term development of  natural gas input to Conventional Thermal Power Stations (1990=100)

053

523

003

572

052

522

002

571

051

521

001

57

0991

1991

2991

3991

4991

6991

5991
72-UE

8991

7991
51-UE

9991
ylatI

0002

1002
ynamreG

2002

3002

4002

5002

Source: Eurostat

Figure 2.25: Long-term development of  natural gas input to Conventional Thermal Power Stations (1990=100) 

0052

0002

0051

0001

005

0

0991

1991

2991

3991

4991

5991

6991

7991
8991
modgniKdetinU

9991

0002
72-UE

1002

2002

3002

4002

5002

Source: Eurostat

46

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3. Import and Export

3. IMPORT AND EXPORT

3.1 Introduction

The adoption in 1996 of EU Directive 96/92 on the creation
of an 'internal market for electricity' marked a turning point
in  energy  sector  liberalisation  policies  in  Europe.  Before
that,  competitive  reform  of  electricity  had  only  begun  in  a
handful of countries such as the United Kingdom, Finland
and  Sweden.  With  the  application  of  this  Directive  from
1999,  and  parallel  developments 
in  Norway  and
Switzerland,  many  Member  States  have  now  opened  up
their electricity sectors to competition.

Prior to this fairly recent process, electricity networks were
already  closely  inter-connected,  with  more  or  less
significant exchanges. Intermediate marketplaces such as
the  Iberian,  Nordic  and  Western  European  electricity
markets  exist  today,  anticipating  the  creation  of  a  single
pan-European electricity market. 

Unlike other commodities, electricity cannot be stored on a
scale  large  enough  to  cover  national  needs  (although
pumping  water  to  higher  reservoirs  and  subsequently
having  turbines  generate  electricity  when  needed  is  one

possibility for storing electricity). Once produced, it travels
along the transmission grid, and the further it is transmitted,
the greater the losses. These characteristics, together with
the  requirement  to  guarantee  universal  access  to  the
electricity  grid,  pushed  most  European  governments  to
nationalise  their  electricity  utilities  after  the  Second  World
War.  But  unless  supply  and  demand  were  perfectly
matched, wastage or blackouts could occur. 

The following section, which looks first at electricity then at
gas, provides EU totals for the net balance only. 

When looking at the tables, readers should note that Malta
and Cyprus neither trade electricity nor use natural gas.

48

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3.2 Electricity trading

Imports of electricity are often the result of economic choice
rather than a shortage of generation possibilities. Keeping
this in mind, Germany and Italy were in 2005 the countries
that relied most on imports in the EU, with 56 861 GWh and

50  264  GWh,  respectively  (see  Table  3.1).  This  was  also
the situation throughout the long-term period of 1990-2005.
They  were  followed,  by  the  Netherlands  (23  691  GWh),
Austria (20 397 GWh) and Finland (17 922 GWh).

3. Import and Export

Table 3.1: Total imports of  electricity (in GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

Change
2004-2005
(%)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO



4 785

5 387

8 179

11 973

31 904

1 475

0

1 330

3 208

6 674

9 398

1 961

6 722

4 013

11 645

964

8 725

8 417

39 735

45 134

245

20

1 390

7 633

2 860

35 577

38 662

-

7 139

4 538

4 665

13 299

-

9 679

6 838

10 437

1 733

9 476

1 716

7 255

11 007

12 909

11 990

7 522

176

-

334

-

2 647

5 270

5 746

3 210

-

11 979

7 287

4 356

2 655

755

740

3 448

8 501

7 720

16 336

4 382

0

-

2 300

258

169

1 729

12 268

3 695

44 831

-

2 108

5 150

6 457

9 523

-

22 946

13 824

3 290

4 698

774

4 232

5 951

12 206

18 308

14 308

4 386

3 791

-

1 474

14 664

1 194

10 086

7 023

49 107

93

1 176

4 169

9 520

6 959

14 567

741

9 776

8 673

48 187

347

1 574

4 854

8 111

6 571

51 486

46 426

-

2 671

4 144

6 481

-

2 733

4 293

6 506

14 328

799

12 351

12 943

56 861

345

2 045

5 616

10 212

8 035

50 264

-

2 855

5 641

6 392

14 077

10 524

15 637

-

20 801

19 002

4 985

5 898

962

5 975

8 623

11 882

24 287

5 119

4 479

1 158

-

-

21 405

16 629

5 312

8 612

2 584

6 314

8 731

11 667

15 646

9 784

5 298

463

-

13 422

15 309

-

23 691

20 397

5 002

9 626

2 321

7 234

8 005

17 922

14 576

11 160

8 746

636

-

3 652

-1.6

7.8

26.3

49.2

18.0

-0.6

29.9

15.7

25.9

22.3

8.3

-

4.5

31.4

-1.8

48.6

-

10.7

22.7

-5.8

11.8

-10.2

14.6

-8.3

53.6

-6.8

14.1

65.1

37.4

-

-76.1

Source: Eurostat

49

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3. Import and Export

Table 3.2: Total exports of  electricity (in GWh)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

1990

8 509

1 597

8 871

4 925

31 115

8 477

0

619

3 628

52 112

922

-

3 555

16 513

755

2 152

-

471

7 298

11 478

1 696

0

2 704

2 059

364

14 677

47

460

907

-

1995

5 326

2 121

6 304

4 807

34 911

1 005

35

593

3 147

72 701

1 235

-

391

7 948

743

805

-

586

9 757

7 157

1 741

456

2 392

2 065

96

9 401

23

886

696

-

2000

2003

2004

2005

Change 2004-
2005 (%)

7 319

5 584

18 742

7 752

42 077

1 187

71

1 740

7 827

73 174

484

-

322

6 486

735

6 083

-

4 031

15 192

9 663

3 767

1 470

5 553

8 647

326

13 630

134

386

437

-

8 254

5 125

26 299

15 568

52 379

1 989

10

2 076

8 257

73 373

518

-

38

11 674

2 777

7 138

-

3 809

13 389

15 146

3 104

3 046

5 811

10 878

7 030

11 457

2 959

586

588

-

5 548

6 790

6 620

25 493

11 545

50 808

2 141

0

2 034

11 139

68 381

791

-

636

11 488

3 132

3 056

-

5 188

13 548

14 605

2 131

3 766

7 094

10 593

6 797

17 750

2 294

1 633

1 144

-

3 854

8 024

8 380

24 985

11 574

61 427

1 953

1

1 836

11 555

68 331

1 109

-

707

8 607

3 131

9 410

-

5 398

17 732

16 188

2 802

5 224

7 558

11 270

933

21 968

2 839

3 634

1 798

-

15 695

18.2

26.6

-2.0

0.3

20.9

-8.8

-

-9.7

3.7

-0.1

40.2

-

11.2

-25.1

0.0

207.9

-

4.0

30.9

10.8

31.5

38.7

6.5

6.4

-86.3

23.8

23.8

122.5

57.2

-

307.2

Source: Eurostat

16 241

8 966

20 529

Focusing  on  electricity  exports  (Table  3.2),  France
remained 
the  biggest  exporter  of  electricity  with 
68 331  Gigawatthours  in  2005,  followed  by  Germany 

(61 427  GWh).  The  Czech  Republic  came  third  with 
24 985 GWh.

50

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3. Import and Export

Table 3.3: Net imports (imports minus exports) of  electricity (in GWh)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

38 629

27 134

-3 724

3 790

-692

7 048

789

-7 002

0

711

-420

-45 438

34 655

-

3 584

-11 975

3 910

11 147

-

9 208

-460

-1 041

37

9 476

-988

5 196

10 643

-1 768

11 943

7 062

-731

-

17 543

18 833

4 072

-160

418

-794

4 824

-760

-15

797

4 486

-69 841

37 427

-

2 256

-2 678

5 003

2 405

-

11 393

-2 470

-2 801

914

299

-1 652

1 383

8 405

-1 681

16 313

3 496

-696

-

19 614

42 376

4 326

-4 620

-1 720

32 614

6 410

-3 931

-7 253

26 884

7 777

-5 879

11 316

45 408

6 304

-7 581

-10 017

-16 213

-15 717

-12 634

665

3 057

-929

98

-11

4 441

-69 479

44 347

-

1 786

-1 336

5 722

3 440

-

18 915

-1 368

-6 373

931

-696

-1 321

-2 696

11 880

4 678

14 174

4 000

3 354

-

-8 545

-3 272

-1 896

1 166

2 093

1 263

-66 414

50 968

-

2 633

-7 530

3 704

6 939

-

16 992

5 613

-10 161

2 794

-2 084

164

-2 255

4 852

12 830

2 160

3 893

570

-

-2 872

-2 621

-1 794

1 574

2 820

-3 028

-61 810

45 635

-

2 097

-7 195

3 374

7 468

-

16 217

3 081

-9 293

6 481

-1 182

-780

-1 862

4 870

-2 104

7 490

3 665

-681

-

1 369

-4 566

-1 608

2 044

3 780

-1 343

-60 296

49 155

-

2 148

-2 966

3 261

6 227

-

18 293

2 665

-11 186

6 824

-2 903

-324

-3 265

16 989

-7 392

8 321

5 112

-1 162

-

Change
2004-2005
(%)

256.0

68.9

-18.9

-29.0

19.6

147.7

-74.2

10.4

29.9

34.0

55.6

2.4

7.7

-

2.4

58.8

-3.3

-16.6

-

12.8

-13.5

-20.4

5.3

-145.6

58.5

-75.3

248.9

-251.3

11.1

39.5

-70.6

-

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

IS

NO

-15 907

-6 666

-19 055

7 874

11 455

-12 043

-205.1

Source: Eurostat

Regarding  net  imports  of  electricity  (imports  minus
exports), the EU-27 appeared to be a net importer in 2005
with  11  316  GWh  after  still  being  a  net  exporter  in  2004
(Table  3.3).  When  limiting  the  view  to  EU-15,  the  'deficit'
increased  from  26  884  GWh  in  2004  to  45  408  GWh  in
2005. 

Looking  at  countries'  individual  figures  of  2005,  about  a
third  of  the  Member  States  were  net  exporters.  France's

balance was highly positive (60 296 GWh). The other net
exporters  were,  in  decreasing  order  of  importance,
Bulgaria,  Sweden,  Germany,  Slovakia,  Lithuania,
Romania, Estonia, Spain and Slovenia.

Italy  remained  the  largest  net  importer  in  2005,  with  a
volume  of  49  155  GWh  (+7.7%  compared  to  2004). At  a
considerable  distance 
the  Netherlands 
(18 293 GWh) and Finland (16 989 GWh).

followed 



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3. Import and Export

Looking  closely  at  the  data  for  individual  years  and  over
time,  net  balances  show  greater  volatility  in  electricity,
unlike for other fuels such as natural gas (shown in the next
section),  with  some  countries  becoming  net  exporters,  or
vice versa, or fluctuating over time. This was the case, for
example,  for  Germany  and  Spain,  becoming  net  exporter
after  being  net  importer  over  a  longer  period  (Germany
became  a  net  exporter  in  2003,  Spain  a  year  later).
However,  this  must  be  seen  in  the  context  of  electricity
trading rather than the availability of local resources.

Finally, Table 3.4 provides a quick overview of the degree
of  net  imports  in  relation  to  national  final  electricity
consumption.  For  electricity,  the  term  ‘dependency’  does
not  really  apply,  as  imports  of  electricity  are  often  not
determined  by  shortages  of  electricity  but  by  economic
considerations. 

However,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  countries  in  the
'self-sufficient'  category  could  indirectly  be  dependent,  as
their  national  electricity  generation  might  rely  on  fuel  (oil,
coal, gas) that has to be imported. This is for instance the
case  for  Malta  and  Cyprus,  countries  that  do  not  trade
electricity  and  still  rely  substantially  on  conventional
thermal  electricity-generating  plants  that  are  primarily
fuelled with imported oil.

Table  3.4:  Electricity  supply: 

dependency* 2005

type  and 

level  of

S
R
E
T
R
O
P
X
E
T
E
N

Lithuania

Bulgaria

Estonia

Czech Republic

Slovakia

France

Poland

Norway
Romania

Sweden

Slovenia

Turkey
Germany

Spain

Cyprus

Self sufficient

Malta

Iceland

LOW

United Kingdom

S
R
E
T
R
O
P
M

I

T
E
N

Denmark

Austria

Greece

Belgium

Ireland

Portugal

Italy

Netherlands

Hungary

Finland

Croatia

Latvia

HIGH 

Luxembourg

* based on electricity trading in relation to final electricity consumption.

Source: Eurostat

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3. Import and Export

3.3 Natural gas trade and dependency

In 2005, the biggest gas importers in the EU were some of
the EU's largest countries (Table 3.5): Germany (3.4 million
TJ), Italy (2.8 million TJ) and France (more than 1.9 million
TJ). It should be noted that data aggregated figures at EU
level  are  not  presented  because  of  double-counting
problems.

By  comparison,  the  United  Kingdom  was  much  more
independent,  with  imports  of  624  135  TJ,  in  other  words
about one eighth of the volume flowing to similarly sized (in
terms of population) Italy.

In fact, 18 Member States recorded a growth in natural gas
imports  between  2004  and  2005.  The  largest  relative
increases  were  registered  by  the  United  Kingdom  (30%),
Spain  (23%)  and  the  Netherlands  (22%).  Conversely,  six
Member States saw their imports decrease between 2004
and 2005. Latvia, which considerably increased its imports
between  2003  and  2004  (by  24%)  reduced  its  imports  by
17.5% in 2005. Finland reduced its imports by close to 9%.
In the remaining countries, decreases were limited to 5% or
less. 

Table 3.5: Total imports of  natural gas (in TJ-GCV)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

382 255

252 614

222 627

0

484 665

212 258

298 871

0

617 685

127 563

348 100

0

662 591

109 593

360 045

0

677 290

111 129

333 350

0

660 160

114 340

353 726

0

1 985 817

2 573 617

2 841 697

3 187 328

3 389 857

3 420 663

56 861

0

0

27 098

3 946

0

171 653

349 881

30 797

115 259

78 551

719 516

31 635

145 769

93 138

36 032

137 683

101 125

37 201

140 007

108 495

984 756

1 145 112

1 407 156

1 147 554

1 307 646

1 696 095

1 788 025

1 857 438

1 936 328

1 178 158

1 328 676

2 188 731

2 392 454

2 587 295

2 798 826

124 787

217 617

19 981

241 444

94 532

206 709

315 104

0

275 754

33 639

249 025

105 162

26 840

287 407

26 763

124 750
-

46 490

94 366

25 916

257 342

128 446

252 025

271 470

0

223 038

34 902

210 880

132 093

35 102

70 045

10 408

263 542
-

51 790

96 041

31 191

341 792

580 346

245 062

308 917

94 864

126 151

38 125

265 484

159 201

36 092

93 701

42 104

560 616
-

65 403

109 549

49 499

462 396

849 263

317 283

350 607

122 968

197 100

41 982

278 951

190 004

41 322

310 675

43 274

803 993
-

80 880

108 991

55 794

431 618

628 124

331 352

379 467

153 733

191 269

41 608

292 628

183 779

41 142

478 926

40 037

843 063
-

66 710

115 949

54 829

456 244

764 779

377 950

398 547

181 102

194 935

43 049

282 145

167 381

39 199

624 135

43 096

1 029 654
-

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

LV

LT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-2.5

2.9

6.1

-

0.9

3.2

1.7

7.3

22.9

4.2

8.2

-17.5

6.4

-1.7

5.7

21.8

14.1

5.0

17.8

1.9

3.5

-3.6

-8.9

-4.7

30.3

7.6

22.1
-

Source: Eurostat

53

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In absolute terms, Spain imported 262 thousand Terajoule
(TJ)  more  in  2005  than  a  year  earlier.  Similarly,  Italy
imported over 211 thousand more in 2005.

Looking  beyond  EU-27,  the  2005  natural  gas  imports  of
Turkey stood 22.1% higher compared to 2004, an increase
notably higher than that recorded between 2003 and 2004
(4.9%).

Table 3.6: Total exports of  natural gas (in TJ-GCV)

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

0

43 172

43 532

13 817

690

5 655

929

37

69 610

112 509

28 674

1 447

0

0

38

134 087

196 326

31 680

1 907

0

3 004

1 928

120 692

282 769

41 904

14 516

0

0

3 329

171 722

324 436

58 546

15 050

0

0

3 220

233 085

362 714

42 020

15 088

0

0

1 201 667

1 355 195

1 380 051

1 603 074

1 784 604

1 738 959

0

35

0

0

0

634

1 184

228

696

1 562

0

40 435

526 844

0

0

40 567

1 767

0

637 337

12 996

59 069

1 753

0

410 803

13 209

38 916

1 667

14 309

346 260

16 971

1 031 422

1 153 541

1 962 454

2 835 323

3 039 795

3 308 519

CZ

DK

DE

FR

IT

LV

HU

NL

AT

PL

SK

UK

HR

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

-3.3

35.7

11.8

-28.2

0.3

 -

 -

-2.6

-34.1

-4.9

-

-15.7

28.5

8.8

Source: Eurostat

There were only few countries exporting natural gas (Table
3.6).  In  2005,  ten  of  the  importing  EU  Member  States
exported as well.

Among  the  EU  Member  States,  the  Netherlands  have
traditionally been exporting the most natural gas, reaching
1.74  million Terajoule  (TJ)  in  2005,  a  value  slightly  under
that  of  2004. The  second  largest  exporter  among  the  EU
Member  States,  but  at  a  considerable  distance,  was
Germany  with  362  714  TJ,  just  ahead  of  the  United
Kingdom,  with  346  260  TJ.  In  2004,  the  United  Kingdom
still ranked clearly ahead of Germany. The shift in position
is due to a decrease of 15.7% in UK gas exports between
2004 and 2005 whereas Germany recorded an increase of
11.8%.

However, if we include non-EU countries, Norway was the
leading  exporter,  with  a  volume  (3.3  million  TJ)  nearly
double that of the Netherlands. Norway exported more than
all the EU exporters together (2.8 million TJ). 

Between  2004  and  2005,  the  increase  in  Danish  exports
stands  out,  both  in  relative  (+35.7%)  and  absolute  terms
(plus  61  000  TJ).  On  the  contrary,  Austria  reduced  its
exports by some 20 000 TJ, corresponding to a decrease
of 34.1%.

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Table 3.7: Net imports (imports minus exports) of  natural gas (in TJ-GCV)

3. Import and Export

1990

1995

2000

2003

2004

2005

6 286 043

6 758 820

8 956 556

10 397 782

10 946 310

11 947 618

4 303 190

5 083 554

7 226 400

8 394 216

8 944 420

9 903 968

382 255

252 614

222 627

-43 172

484 665

212 258

298 834

-69 610

617 685

127 563

348 062

662 591

109 593

358 117

677 290

111 129

330 021

660 160

114 340

350 506

-134 087

-120 692

-171 722

-233 085

1 942 285

2 461 108

2 645 371

2 904 559

3 065 421

3 057 949

56 861

0

0

27 098

3 946

0

171 653

349 881

30 797

115 259

78 551

719 516

31 635

145 769

93 138

36 032

137 683

101 125

37 201

140 007

108 495

984 756

1 145 112

1 407 156

1 133 737

1 278 972

1 664 415

1 746 121

1 798 892

1 894 308

1 177 468

1 327 229

2 186 824

2 377 938

2 572 245

2 783 738

119 132

217 617

19 981

240 515

46 490

94 366

25 916

51 790

96 041

31 191

257 342

338 788

65 403

109 549

49 499

462 396

80 880

108 991

55 794

431 618

66 710

115 949

54 829

456 244

-1 107 135

-1 226 749

-799 705

-753 811

-1 156 480

-974 180

206 709

315 069

0

275 754

33 639

249 025

105 162

26 840

287 407

26 763

124 750

251 391

270 286

0

223 038

34 902

210 652

132 093

35 102

29 610

10 408

263 542

244 366

307 355

94 864

126 151

38 125

265 484

159 201

36 092

276 716

348 840

122 968

197 100

41 982

278 951

190 004

41 322

-433 143

-326 662

42 104

560 616

30 278

803 993

272 283

377 714

153 733

191 269

41 608

292 628

183 779

41 142

68 123

26 828

339 034

396 880

181 102

194 935

43 049

267 836

167 381

39 199

277 875

26 125

843 063

1 029 654

-1 031 422

-1 153 541

-1 962 454

-2 835 323

-3 039 795

-3 308 519

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

LV

LT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

TR

NO

Change
2004-2005
(%)

9.1

10.7

-2.5

2.9

6.2

-35.7

-0.2

3.2

1.7

7.3

22.9

5.3

8.2

-17.5

6.4

-1.7

5.7

15.8

24.5

5.1

17.8

1.9

3.5

-8.5

-8.9

-4.7

307.9

-2.6

22.1

-8.8

Source: Eurostat

Weighing up imports of natural gas against exports in 2005,
the EU continued to be a clear net importer with a volume
of more than 11.9 million TJ, 9.1% more than in 2004 (Table
3.7).

Looking at changes among the two Member States with net
export  balances  in  2005,  the  important  Dutch  exports
remained relatively stable between 1990 and 2005. Imports
fluctuated in recent years, resulting in varying net imports.

Looking at the country list, 23 of the 25 EU Member States
using natural gas in 2005 (i.e. excluding Malta and Cyprus)
were  net  importers  and  in  many  cases  solely  importers.
Only the Netherlands and Denmark were net exporters, the
latter  being  just  an  exporter.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the
United Kingdom, after being a net exporter at the beginning
of the century, became a net importer in 2004. 

Norway  remains  very  important  for  the  EU's  natural  gas
supply,  in  both  relative  terms  and  absolute  quantities.
Norway's  performance  was  also  impressive  in  sheer
volume, rising from a balance of just over -1 million TJ in
1990 to -3.3 million TJ in 2005. During the second half of
the 1990s, its balance overtook that of the Netherlands.



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3. Import and Export

Based on the available data, the EU's main gas suppliers
in  2005  continued  to  be  Russia  and  Norway,  followed  by
Algeria (Table 3.8). 

In 

country. 
the  cases  where  percentages  exceed 
100 percent, natural gas might have been stored or used
for chemical purposes. 

Looking  at  the  breakdown  by  destination  countries,
although the data are incomplete, partly for confidentiality
reasons, the bulk of the EU's imports have come from both
Russia and Norway. 

Table 3.8 also shows several 100% rates for the share of
total  imports:  Finland,  the  three  Baltic  States,  Slovakia,
Romania, Bulgaria and candidate country Croatia rely on a
single country (Russia) for their gas supply.

Finally, the last column expresses these single import flows
as a proportion of the gross inland consumption of natural
gas  (i.e.  final  gas  consumption  plus  natural  gas  input  to
conventional  thermal  power  plants)  in  the  destination

Physically,  natural  gas  is  carried  through  a  network  of
pipelines  across  the  EU.  Norway's  gas  enters  the  EU
essentially  through  two  pipelines  (to  continental  Europe
and to the United Kingdom). Export lines to Scandinavian
countries  are  planned  for  the  future.  Algeria's  gas  flows
through two major lines: the 1067 km pipeline running via
Tunisia  and  Sicily  to  mainland  Italy  and  the  one  through
Morocco  to  Cordoba  (Spain),  connecting  to  the  Spanish
and Portuguese transmission networks. 

Algeria  also  liquefies  natural  gas  (LNG)  and  exports  it  on
special sea vessels to France, Belgium, Spain and Turkey.

Table 3.8: Main natural gas suppliers* to the European Union, 2005 (in TJ-GCV)

Producer

Quantity

Destination country

% of total imports of 
destination country

% of gross inland consumption of natural 
gas of the destination country

Russia

Norway

Algeria

Nigeria

4 952 879
1 425 938
888 721
378 093
282 145
269 065
264 523
262 629
194 935
167 381
115 949
114 340
66 710
43 096
37 201
33 776
25 746

2 642 633
1 097 831
460 416
447 040
218 046
182 471
89 018
84 661
43 724
19 426

2 256 826
1 046 378
609 182
309 486
128 211
112 022
17 788
17 189
16 570

436 319
220 643
146 596
69 080

all EU countries
Germany
Italy
France
Slovakia
Czech Republic
Austria
Poland
Romania
Finland
Lithuania
Bulgaria
Latvia
Croatia
Estonia
Belgium
Slovenia

all EU countries
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Belgium
Spain
Czech Republic
Austria
Poland

all EU countries
Italy
Spain
France
Belgium
Portugal
Greece
Slovenia
United Kingdom

all EU countries
Spain
France
Portugal

41.7%
31.8%
19.5%
100%
76.1%
70.0%
65.9%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
5.1%
59.8%

32.1%
73.8%
23.1%
7.8%
27.6%
6.3%
23.9%
11.6%
4.9%

37.4%
43.3%
16.0%
19.4%
61.9%
16.4%
39.9%
2.7%

15.7%
7.6%
38.1%

37.9%
27.0%
19.8%
>100%
75.1%
68.8%
46.1%
30.1%
100%
>100%
87.7%
>100%
39.0%
100%
5.1%
59.6%

29.2%
11.7%
23.4%
6.6%
27.8%
6.4%
23.6%
11.4%
3.4%

31.8%
43.9%
16.2%
19.5%
64.2%
16.2%
39.8%
0.4%

15.9%
7.7%
39.6%

* Incomplete data; some information is not available or claimed to be commercially confidential. 

Source: Eurostat

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Russian  gas  reaches  Western  Europe  through  a  pipeline
running through the Ukraine and a pipeline connecting the
Siberian fields through Belarus with Poland and Germany.
Another pipeline from the Barents Sea via the Baltic Sea to
Germany is currently being built. 

Finally, Nigerian gas finds its way to the EU only as LNG
carried out special gas vessels.

As  Norway  is  a  major  producer  (and  exporter)  but  a
negligible  consumer  (Norway  consumed  three  times  less
natural gas than Luxembourg, for instance), it comes as no
surprise that this country is highly independent as regards
natural gas supplies (see Table 3.9). To a lesser extent, the
same can be said for Denmark and the Netherlands. 

The  majority  of  countries  however  remain  dependent  on
gas  imports.  Unlike  with  electricity,  this  situation  will  not
change  in  the  short  term  as  it  is  primarily  linked  to  the
existence of natural gas resources on a country's territory
(or continental shelf). The range between low dependency
(the  United  Kingdom,  for  instance)  and  high  dependency
(e.g. the three Baltic States, Slovakia and Bulgaria) is less
wide for natural gas than for electricity. 

Table  3.9  gives  an  overview  of  the  relative  importance  of
net imports per country (imports minus exports) in relation
to the gross inland consumption of natural gas.

In  terms  of  total  national  energy  consumption,  it  can  be
concluded  that  Denmark  and  the  Netherlands  remain  the
two  EU  Member  States  that  are  least  dependent  on  gas
imports.

3. Import and Export

Table 3.9: Natural gas supply: degree of  dependency*

2005

O
N

Y
C
N
E
D
N
E
P
E
D

LOW

Y
C
N
E
D
N
E
P
E
D

HIGH

Norway

Denmark

Netherlands

United Kingdom    
Croatia

Romania

Poland

Hungary

Germany

Italy

Éire/ireland

Bulgaria

Austria

Turkey

Slovakia

Czech Republic

Greece

France

Slovenia

Luxembourg

Finland

Sweden

Estonia

Belgium

Lithuania

Spain

Portugal
Latvia

* based on natural gas trade and consumption.

Source: Eurostat



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4. Prices and taxes

4. PRICES AND TAXES

4.1 Introduction

Prices paid by consumers for energy depend on a number
of factors, and these prices are usually adjusted regularly
to reflect current market economics. 
The two figures below include a curve outlining the monthly
development of the price of crude oil and curves showing
the development of electricity and gas prices separately for
household  use  (Figure  4.1)  and  for  industrial  use  (Figure
4.2). 

Corrected  for  inflation  and  taking  2005  as  base  year,
natural gas prices for households at EU-15 level remained
relatively stable throughout the 1996-2000 period. Between
2000  and  2001  a  noticeable  increase  was  registered,
followed  again  by  a  stable  period  lasting  until  2005.
Between 2005 and 2006, however, an increase of 18 index
points was noted. Figure 4.1 insufficiently shows this high
increase  due 
for
households  remained  very  stable.  A  clear  increase  was
noted  between  2005  and  2006,  even  if  this  was  far  less
marked than for natural gas (5%).

the  scaling.  Electricity  prices 

to 

Figure 4.1: Development of  household energy prices (without taxes) 1996-2006, EU-15 (deflated series, 2005=100)

175

150

125

100

75

50

25

Jan.1996

Jan.1997

Jan.1998

Jan.1999

Jan.2000

Jan.2001

Jan.2002

Jan.2003

Jan.2004

Jan.2005

Jan.2006

Note: Electricity and gas prices apply to standard domestic consumers (3500 kWh/year and 83.70 GJ/year respectively).

Crude oil (Brent)

Electricity for household use

Natural gas for household use

Source: Eurostat and INSEE

Figure 4.2: Development of  industrial energy prices (without taxes) 1996-2006, EU-15 (deflated series, 2005=100)

175

150

125

100

75

50

25

Jan.1996

Jan.1997

Jan.1998

Jan.1999

Jan.2000

Jan.2001

Jan.2002

Jan.2003

Jan.2004

Jan.2005

Jan.2006

Note: Electricity and gas prices apply to standard industrial consumers (2 000 MWh/year and 41 860 GJ/year respectively).

Crude oil (Brent)

Electricity for industrial use

Natural gas for industrial use

Source: Eurostat and INSEE

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4. Prices and taxes

4.2. Prices and taxes for electricity

4.2.1. Prices and taxes for electricity consumed in households 

Taking 1997 as the starting point, the average price actually
paid  (i.e.  all  taxes  included)  for  a  kilowatt  hour  (kWh)  of
electricity  at  EU-15  level  (based  on  a  standard  consumer
consuming  3  500  kWh  per  year,  corresponding  to  a
standard dwelling of 90 m²) actually decreased up to 1999.
But whereas the price without taxes continued to decrease
in the two following years and remained stable up to 2004,
the  price  of  a  kWh  without  value-added  tax  (and
consequently  the  price  with  all  taxes  included)  increased
again (see Figure 4.3). In 2002, the 1997 price levels were
reached  again.  Information  on  prices  paid  by  other
standard  consumer  categories  can  be  found  on  the 
CD-ROM  attached  to  this  publication  or  on  Eurostat's
website. 

All price categories showed the same steep upward trend
from  2005  onwards.  In  fact,  the  2007  price  without  taxes
was more than 11% higher than the 1997 level; the prices
including VAT and those including several  taxes stood 18%
higher. 

The fact that the curves of the price without taxes and the
prices  with  taxes  (VAT  and  all  other  taxes)  show  an
increasing  gap  from  1999  onwards  is  explained  by  a
noticeable  increase  in  taxes  in  2000  in  Germany,  the
Netherlands  and  Sweden.  But  whereas  the  difference
amounted to 4 index points in 2000, it increased to 7 points
in 2005 and the years that followed. 

Although large electricity consumers (often industry) were
the first to take advantage of increased competition on the
electricity  market,  more  and  more  households  can  now
choose  their  electricity  retailer  too.  Under  EU  Directive
96/92/EC of December 1996 concerning common rules for
the internal market in electricity, all households should be
able  to  choose  their  supplier  since  the  1st  of  July  2007.
However,  this  full  liberalisation  does  not  affect  national
particularities  with  regard  to  taxes  and  duties  due  on
electricity.

Figure 4.3: Development of  the average price of  one kWh for domestic electricity consumption, EU-15 (1997=100) - based on

prices in EUR

120

118

116

114

112

110

108

106

104

102

100

98

96

94

92

90

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Note: Based on the standard consumer Dc (3 500 kWh/year) on the 1st of January of each year, weighted by consumption.

Without taxes

Without VAT

All taxes included

Source: Eurostat

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4. Prices and taxes

Table 4.4: Electricity for households - average price of  one kWh, without taxes - in cents

1997

2002

2003

2004

14.34

14.40

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

NO

:

10.81

11.91

:

:

6.39

12.70

:

8.16

6.19

10.50

10.05

16.71

:

:

:

:

10.32

11.37

:

6.42

8.65

12.61

4.57

8.83

5.80

8.59

9.23

13.90

8.45

:

:

:

10.36

11.20

:

6.54

9.47

12.67

5.50

10.06

6.06

8.72

8.90

14.49

9.15

:

:

10.71

11.48

11.91

5.07

4.90

8.77

9.84

:

7.23

6.31

9.23

9.32

8.18

7.33

6.52

9.70

9.26

7.75

12.78

12.23

12.57

:

7.33

:

7.27

6.75

9.71

:

8.22

:

8.58

:

6.97

7.01

10.31

:

9.27

:

8.33

:

7.38

8.38

9.59

:

15.68

:

10.27

11.45

4.86

6.60

9.15

12.59

5.50

10.55

6.21

8.85

9.05

9.28

4.87

5.35

12.15

7.94

6.36

10.31

9.81

6.99

12.83

:

8.41

10.24

8.10

8.98

8.37

:

9.85

2005

10.13

10.42

11.16

5.37

7.29

9.27

13.34

5.76

11.97

6.37

9.00

9.05

9.15

7.02

6.09

12.88

8.51

7.27

11.02

9.64

8.23

13.13

6.55

8.61

11.23

7.92

8.46

8.36

7.02

2006

10.68

10.94

11.23

5.52

8.29

9.97

13.74

6.20

12.85

6.43

9.40

9.05

15.48

12.25

7.02

6.09

13.90

8.96

9.04

12.07

8.94

9.23

13.40

7.92

8.74

12.16

8.09

8.76

9.71

7.59

Change
2006-2007
(%)

9.7

10.1

9.4

-0.9

8.3

17.4

4.3

2.4

14.0

2.8

6.8

1.8

7.1

-3.9

-17.0

8.0

8.6

13.7

4.0

16.0

17.4

-0.4

6.0

8.0

1.5

6.3

8.4

24.2

29.1

0.1

23.6

2007

11.72

12.05

12.29

5.47

8.98

11.70

14.33

6.35

14.65

6.61

10.04

9.21

16.58

11.77

5.83

6.58

15.09

10.19

9.40

14.00

10.50

9.19

14.20

8.55

8.87

12.92

8.77

10.88

12.54

7.60

13.61

11.37

11.01

Note: Based on the standard consumer Dc (3 500 kWh/year) on the 1st of January of each year, weighted by consumption.

Source: Eurostat 

Looking  at  the  time  series  for  prices  for  one  kWh  without
taxes (see Table 4.4); it can be noted that, at EU-27 level,
the  price  increased  by  a  substantial  9.7%  between  2006
and 2007. 

At  country  level,  the  United  Kingdom  and  Sweden
registered  the  largest  price  increases  with  29.1%  and
24.2%,  respectively.  Latvia  was  the  Member  State  to
register a marked price decline: -17.0% between 2006 and
2007. In Cyprus, the kilowatt hour in 2007 costs 3.9% less
than in 2006. 

Focusing on the EU Member States in 2007, the price for a
kWh  without  taxes  ranged  from  5.47  cents  in  Bulgaria  to
16.58 cents in Italy. About a third of the EU Member States
paid  over  the  EU-27  average  of  11.72  cents  per  kWh.
However,  this  situation  changes  considerably  when  the
price including all taxes is considered.

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Over the 2006-2007 period, increases of all taxes included
prices were particularly marked in the United Kingdom and
Sweden,  as  could  be  expected  when  looking  at  the
evolution  of  the  base  price.  Similarly,  Latvia  reported  a
price decrease of 17%.

Still  based  on  standard  household  consumer  Dc 
(3 500  kWh  per  year),  the  highest  average  price  in  2007
was paid in Denmark: 25.79 cents per kWh. Italy and the
Netherlands came close with 23.29 cents and 21.80 cents,
respectively. 

4. Prices and taxes

Looking at the price span among the EU Member States in
2007,  Danish  standard  consumers  paid  nearly  four  times
the price of that paid by Bulgarian consumers (25.79 cents
versus  6.60  cents).  However,  this  should  be  seen  in  the
light of the differences between average price levels in the
various countries.

Table 4.5: Electricity for households - average cost of  one kWh, all taxes included - in cents

1997

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Change
2006-2007
(%)

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

NO

:

13.40

14.58

:

:

16.55

14.72

:

9.18

7.31

12.18

13.17

22.37

:

:

:

11.36

5.68

4.90

11.53

12.69

:

13.43

:

8.07

:

9.39

9.98

10.49

:

:

13.36

13.94

:

7.83

22.02

16.70

5.39

9.94

6.30

10.47

11.65

19.01

9.29

:

:

12.91

8.09

6.31

16.60

13.39

10.66

12.86

:

:

13.55

13.76

:

7.97

23.03

17.08

6.49

11.79

6.54

10.63

11.62

19.84

10.52

:

:

13.35

8.21

6.85

17.58

13.52

10.05

13.22

:

10.29

10.00

:

9.36

11.33

10.83

:

:

9.91

13.49

10.06

:

:

13.58

14.22

5.83

8.07

22.62

16.98

6.49

12.56

6.71

10.79

11.94

19.50

10.88

5.75

6.32

13.65

9.92

6.68

18.27

14.16

9.04

13.50

:

10.10

12.18

10.79

14.40

8.78

:

10.99

12.95

21.06

13.60

13.36

13.82

14.81

6.44

8.68

22.78

17.85

6.78

14.36

6.88

10.97

11.94

19.70

10.74

8.28

7.18

14.78

10.64

7.64

19.55

14.13

10.64

13.81

7.79

10.33

13.38

10.57

13.97

8.77

8.48

15.71

13.97

14.40

14.42

6.60

9.85

23.62

18.32

7.31

14.90

7.01

11.47

11.94

21.08

14.31

8.29

7.18

16.03

10.75

9.49

20.87

13.40

11.90

14.10

9.43

10.49

14.48

10.78

14.35

10.20

9.22

15.33

15.28

15.81

15.81

6.60

10.67

25.79

19.49

7.50

16.62

7.20

12.25

12.11

23.29

13.76

6.88

7.76

16.84

12.22

9.87

21.80

15.45

11.84

15.00

10.17

10.64

15.37

11.60

17.14

13.16

9.23

18.56

9.4

9.8

9.6

0.0

8.3

9.2

6.4

2.6

11.5

2.7

6.8

1.4

10.5

-3.8

-17.0

8.1

5.1

13.7

4.0

4.5

15.3

-0.5

6.4

7.8

1.4

6.1

7.6

19.4

29.0

0.1

21.1

Note: Based on the standard consumer Dc (3 500 kWh/year) on the 1st of January of each year, weighted by consumption.



Source: Eurostat 

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4. Prices and taxes

Figure 4.6: Electricity for households: average price of

one kWh, all taxes included, as of  1 January 2007 - in

Purchasing Power Standards (PPS)

SK

IT

PL

NL

HU

DE

DK

RO

PT

CZ

BG

CY

BE

AT

LU

SI

LT

HR

MT

SE

NO

IE

ES

LV

EE

UK

FR

FI

EL

0.2431

0.2171

0.2027

0.1997

0.1934

0.1824

0.1818

0.173

0.1712

0.1704

0.1666

0.1528

0.1476

0.1449

0.1432

0.1411

0.1404

0.1394

0.1362

0.1361

0.1346

0.132

0.1258

0.1176

0.1176

0.1127

0.1086

0.0977

0.0813

Figure  4.6  uses  an  alternative  'currency':  the  Purchasing
Power  Standard  (PPS).  The  PPS  is  an  artificial  common
reference  currency  unit  that  eliminates  price  level
differences  between  countries.  One  PPS  thus  buys  the
same given volume of goods/services in all countries.

standard 

Looking at electricity prices in this way reveals a different
picture: whereas in terms of absolute prices expressed in
cents,  Danish 
consumers  paid  most 
(25.79  cents),  the  price  in  PPS  was  far  more  reasonable
(0.182 PPS). Conversely, electricity prices were the highest
in  Slovakia  (0.243  PPS),  three  times  the  price  paid  in
Greece.  In  Italy,  the  price  was  high  both  in  terms  of
absolute  prices  expressed  in  cents  (at  23.29  cents  per
kWh,  the  second  most  expensive  after  Denmark)  and  in
terms  of  PPS  (at  0.217  PPS,  the  second  highest  after
Slovakia). 

On the other side of the spectrum came two countries with
a PPS price level of under 0.1: Finland, and Greece.

Figure 4.7 shows that Bulgaria, Greece and the three Baltic
countries not only had a relatively low basic price (in cents)
but  also  applied  a  low  rate  of  taxation  (VAT  and/or  other
taxes). 

At  EU-27  level,  the  average  price  of  15.28  cents  per
kilowatthour (all taxes included) paid in 2007 comprised an
11.72 cent basic price (corresponding to 77% of the total)
and 3.56 cents in taxes (the remaining 23%). In Belgium,
Poland, France and Finland, about the same proportion of
taxes (around 23%) is added to the basic price of electricity
for domestic consumers. The average share of taxes in the
total  price  may  however  be  as  high  as  55%  in  Denmark,
37%  in  Sweden  and  36%  in  the  Netherlands  but  also  as
low as 5% in Malta, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

0.00

0.25
0.10
Note: Based on the standard consumer Dc (3500 kWh/ year). 
All data are provisional. 

0.15

0.20

0.05

0.30

Source: Eurostat 

Figure 4.7: Electricity for households: composition of  the price for one kWh, 1 January 2007 - in cents

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

EU-
27

EU-
15

BG LV EL EE LT HR MT RO SI CZ FI PL FR HU ES UK CY PT SK AT BE IE LU SE NO DE NL IT DK

price without taxes

taxes

Note: Based on the standard consumer Dc (3500 kWh/year).

Source: Eurostat 

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4. Prices and taxes

A new methodology for the collection of gas and electricity prices

The legal basis for the collection of industrial gas and electricity prices is defined by Council Directive 90/377/EEC. The
collection of prices for household consumers is done on a voluntary agreement with the Member States.

As market liberalisation of the electricity and gas markets is progressing, the methodology that defines the details for the
collection of the gas and electricity prices became outdated.

In  June  2007,  the  Commission  adopted  a  proposal  from  Directorate-General  Transport  and  Energy  and  Eurostat  to
change the methodology for these price collections.

The main changes that will be introduced for the collection of price information as of January 2008 prices include:
- Prices will only be reported as national figures
- Prices will be reported as an average of the last 6 months.
- Typical standard consumers will be replaced by consumption bands
- Disaggregated data on network costs will be reported for electricity prices.

More  information  on  the  methodology  for  the  new  collection  method  is  available  on  the  CD-ROM  that  comes  with  this
publication.

4.2.2. Prices and taxes for industrial electricity consumption

Regarding  the  time  period  1997-2000,  the  average  price
paid by industry at EU-15 level for a kilowatthour (kWh) of
electricity decreased significantly (see Figure 4.8). In 2000,
it  stood  around  7  percentage  points  lower  than  in  1997.
This price development is remarkable when compared with
that for households (see Figure 4.3). Indeed, in 2000, the
domestic  standard  consumer  paid  only  1%  less  than  in
1997. 

The  period  from  2000  to  2004  saw  a  less  steady  price
development. The gap between the electricity price without
taxes and the price with taxes widened, due to increased
electricity  taxation.  From  2004  onwards,  while  taxation
remained  fairly  constant,  prices  steadily  and  rapidly
increased,  reaching  levels  more  than  30%  higher  than  a

decade earlier. The basic price (which is the price without
taxes  and/or  other  duties)  for  industrial  energy  increased
by 24% during that period.

In absolute terms however, the price paid for electricity by
industrial customers stayed significantly under that paid by
households. 

As value-added tax (VAT) is often deductible for industrial
and commercial users subject to taxation, Table 4.9 looks
at  the  development  of  electricity  prices  for  standard
industrial consumer Ie expressed in cents, excluding VAT,
but  including  other  taxes,  duties  or  levies  that  might  be
applicable in the individual countries.

Figure 4.8: Development of  the average price of  one kWh for industrial electricity consumption, EU-15 (1997=100) - based on

prices in EUR

135

130

125

120

115

110

105

100

95

90

85

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Note: Based on the standard industrial consumer Ie (2000 MWh/year) on the 1st of January of each calendar year.

Without taxes

Without VAT

All taxes included

Source: Eurostat 

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4. Prices and taxes

Table 4.9: Electricity for industry: average price of  one kWh, without VAT but including other taxes or duties - in cents

1997

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Change
2006-2007
(%)

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

NO

:

7.02

7.46

:

:

5.40

8.30

:

7.06

5.71

6.89

5.89

9.47

:

:

:

7.25

4.70

6.17

5.66

8.26

:

7.31

:

7.06

:

4.35

4.22

5.88

:

3.52

:

6.76

7.61

:

5.18

7.07

7.21

4.65

7.68

5.90

5.47

5.62

:

7.34

7.68

:

4.99

7.64

8.20

4.55

7.76

6.14

5.55

5.62

10.12

9.03

10.78

9.62

:

:

7.09

5.95

6.98

:

:

5.85

6.65

:

5.99

:

4.44

3.10

6.40

:

4.33

:

5.50

7.35

6.04

6.36

:

:

5.66

6.73

4.42

5.82

:

6.11

6.66

5.63

:

5.60

:

7.21

7.71

4.09

4.92

6.98

8.63

4.55

8.12

6.30

5.66

5.78

7.56

7.75

7.75

4.29

6.01

7.15

9.03

4.72

9.30

6.45

7.21

5.78

10.26

10.93

8.41

4.31

5.13

7.56

6.61

6.20

:

7.59

4.88

6.84

5.10

6.09

6.83

5.89

5.20

5.01

:

5.42

8.10

4.09

4.98

8.51

7.09

7.06

8.99

8.27

5.55

7.13

7.69

6.11

7.03

5.73

4.68

5.93

5.56

6.49

8.42

8.66

9.69

4.60

7.31

8.01

9.94

5.11

10.11

6.68

7.57

5.78

12.08

11.36

4.09

4.98

8.95

7.61

7.11

9.57

8.63

5.96

8.17

7.73

6.51

7.73

5.63

5.93

8.22

5.96

6.46

9.20

9.48

9.69

4.70

7.83

7.06

10.69

5.34

11.25

6.98

8.51

5.87

13.87

10.70

4.43

5.48

9.95

8.20

8.97

10.30

9.53

5.93

8.60

8.42

7.50

9.32

5.65

6.31

9.74

5.97

8.47

9.3

9.5

0.0

2.2

7.1

-11.9

7.5

4.5

11.3

4.5

12.4

1.6

14.8

-5.8

8.3

10.0

11.2

7.8

26.2

7.6

10.4

-0.5

5.3

8.9

15.2

20.6

0.4

6.4

18.5

0.2

31.1

Note: Based on the standard industrial consumer (Ie) (2000 MWh/year) on the 1st of January of each calendar year.
Energy and other taxes are included in this table.

Source: Eurostat 

Regarding  the  evolution  of  the  average  price  of  one  kWh
between  1997  and  2007,  the  Netherlands  recorded  the
highest  increase  (82%).  France  reported  a  slight  price
decrease (-0.3%) during this ten-year period. For the latter
country, a price decrease was mainly registered during the
second half of the 1990s, as the price has remained quite
stable over the last five years. 

Focusing  just  on  the  last  two  reference  years,  the  largest
price  increases  were  registered  in  Malta  (+26.2%)  and  in
Slovakia (+20.6%). Conversely, a considerable price drop
was noted in Denmark (-11.9%).

in  mind 

Keeping 
long  charged
comparatively  low  electricity  prices,  the  31.1%  price
increase between 2006 and 2007 is also worth mentioning.

that  Norway  has 

In  absolute  terms,  the  price  span  in  2007  among  the  EU
Member  States  is  not  as  wide  as  it  is  for  households  but
nevertheless ranges from 4.43 cents per kWh without VAT
in Latvia to 13.87 cents in Italy.

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4. Prices and taxes

4.3. Prices and taxes for natural gas

4.3.1. Prices and taxes for natural gas used by domestic consumers

The  price  pattern  of  gas  is  very  different  from  that  for
electricity, both in terms of general price evolution and the
evolution  of  prices  with  or  without  taxes  (Figure  4.10  -
prices as of 1 January of each year, weighted according to
the quantity consumed). The information in this section is
based  on  standard  consumer  D3  (corresponding  to  a
household  with  the  following  equipment:  cooking,  water
heating and central heating). Information for other standard
consumers  can  be  found  on  the  attached  CD-ROM  or  on
Eurostat's website.

Worth  noting  is  the  parallelism  in  the  evolution  of  the
different  price  categories  for  one  Gigajoule  of  natural  gas
for household (or domestic) consumption. Over the 1997-
2007  period,  the  prices  without  taxes  and  without  VAT
followed,  in  linear  terms,  very  closely  the  trends  of  the
prices with all taxes included. There was no outstandingly
large  gap  between  the  price  categories  arising  from  an
increase  or  decrease  in  taxes,  such  as  was  the  case  for
electricity.

Moreover,  connected  with  this  homogeneous  pattern,
percentage  growths  were  very  close  by  2007:  prices
without  taxes  grew  by  68.7%  compared  to  1997,  prices
without  VAT  by  61.1%  and  prices  with  all  taxes  also  by
61.5%.

The small gaps that had emerged between the curves for
the  price  without  taxes  and  the  prices  with  VAT  and  all
taxes  included  had  largely  disappeared  in  2005  but
became again clearly apparent by 2007 (around 8%). 

Looking at the trends within the 1997-2007 period, the first
four years were characterised by rapid ups and downs. The
larger  drop  for  the  price  without  taxes  between  1998  and
1999, to the extent that it regained almost the 1997 value
in  2000,  reflected  a  corresponding  increase  in  VAT  or
taxes. 

There was a relative stable path between 2001 and 2003,
giving way to a downwards movement between 2003 and
2004.  However,  prices  have  climbed  significantly  since
2005.

Figure 4.10: Development of  the average price of  one Gigajoule (GCV) of  natural gas for domestic consumption, EU-15

(1997=100) - based on prices in EUR

180

170

160

150

140

130

120

110

100

90

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Note: Based on the standard domestic consumer D3 (83.70 GJ/year) on the 1st of January of each calendar year.

Source: Eurostat 

Without taxes

Without VAT

All taxes included



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4. Prices and taxes

Table 4.11: Natural gas for households - average price of  one Gigajoule (GCV), without taxes - in EUR

1997

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Change
2006-2007
(%)

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

ES

FR

IT

LV

LT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

:

7.22

6.92

:

:

:

7.11

:

7.64

9.16

7.23

9.00

:

:

5.75

3.00

6.23

8.33

:

:

:

5.12

:

5.48

7.21

6.32

:

:

8.42

8.34

:

5.81

7.53

9.24

:

7.27

10.46

9.19

9.95

:

:

6.64

3.88

7.03

8.78

6.64

13.19

:

7.31

:

:

9.63

6.63

:

:

8.37

8.58

:

5.20

8.33

8.93

3.93

7.27

10.43

9.06

9.86

:

:

6.91

3.94

8.17

8.85

5.91

12.70

:

7.40

:

:

9.85

6.56

:

:

8.18

8.39

5.62

5.38

8.45

9.10

3.93

7.93

9.95

8.65

8.88

3.58

4.62

6.67

4.14

8.17

9.13

5.20

8.46

8.84

8.85

5.61

6.30

12.58

10.16

3.92

8.80

10.25

9.00

8.98

3.85

4.58

7.68

4.43

9.64

8.91

6.19

11.48

11.75

:

7.23

6.11

:

10.01

6.52

:

4.03

7.82

6.84

:

11.72

6.91

6.27

10.00

10.39

10.75

6.42

8.43

13.19

12.25

3.93

11.02

11.75

10.81

10.43

4.54

5.29

9.74

4.59

11.09

10.72

7.76

13.83

6.44

10.03

9.12

:

14.80

7.84

6.42

11.68

12.18

10.33

7.36

7.94

13.64

13.97

4.99

14.74

12.27

11.42

11.79

6.35

5.97

10.87

5.97

12.30

10.98

8.76

13.22

7.60

10.75

9.64

:

15.09

11.20

6.43

16.8

17.2

-3.9

14.6

-5.8

3.4

14.0

27.0

33.8

4.4

5.6

13.0

39.9

12.9

11.6

30.1

10.9

2.4

12.9

-4.4

18.0

7.2

5.7

:

2.0

42.9

0.2

Note: Based on the standard domestic consumer D3 (83.70 GJ/year) on the 1st of January of each calendar year.

Source: Eurostat 

By 2007, the average price of one Gigajoule of natural gas
for households - without taxes - was EUR 11.68 at EU-27
level,  lower  than  for  the  EU-15  (EUR  12.18).  This
represented  an  increase  of  around  five  euros  compared
with the price of EUR 7.22 in 1997 (data available for the
EU-15 only). 

Largely responsible for this growth are the years 2006 and
2007, when the year-on-year increase amounted to 16.8%
at EU-27 level. 

Behind this EU picture, based on the available data for the
Member  States,  is  a  range  of  prices  from  EUR  4.99  in
Estonia to EUR 15.09 in Sweden.

Between  2006  and  2007,  price  increases  were  highest  in
the United Kingdom (+42.9%), Latvia (+39.9%) and Ireland
(+33.8%).  Other  remarkable  increases  of  the  basic  gas
price  (without  taxes)  concern  households  in  Hungary
(+30.1%), Estonia (+27.0%) and Romania (18.0%). 

Only Belgium, the Czech Republic and Portugal registered
prices decreases, ranging between 5.8% and 3.9%.

68

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Table 4.12: Natural gas for households - average price of  one Gigajoule (GCV), all taxes included - in EUR

1997

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Change
2006-2007
(%)

4. Prices and taxes

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

ES

FR

IT

LV

LT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

:

9.70

8.79

:

:

:

8.77

:

8.60

10.63

8.72

16.14

:

:

6.10

3.36

8.29

11.30

:

:

:

5.57

:

7.08

12.40

6.83

:

:

11.43

10.51

:

7.08

17.98

11.85

:

8.18

12.14

10.81

17.15

:

:

7.04

4.35

11.55

11.84

8.10

13.85

:

9.81

:

:

17.26

6.97

:

:

11.49

10.78

:

6.35

18.98

12.13

4.64

8.25

12.09

10.65

16.77

:

:

7.33

4.41

13.08

12.26

7.20

13.34

:

9.87

:

:

18.32

6.89

:

:

10.93

10.54

6.75

6.57

19.12

12.33

4.64

9.00

11.55

10.15

14.92

4.22

5.45

7.07

4.76

13.19

13.71

6.34

12.05

:

9.64

7.27

:

19.57

6.83

:

11.21

11.81

11.16

6.73

7.49

28.44

13.56

4.63

9.98

11.90

10.57

15.34

4.54

5.41

8.14

5.10

15.17

13.36

7.55

12.34

4.79

10.33

8.14

:

22.18

7.26

7.99

12.92

13.51

13.50

7.70

10.03

29.82

15.98

4.63

12.51

13.63

12.72

16.50

5.34

6.24

10.33

5.28

16.92

15.65

9.46

14.52

7.66

12.99

10.88

:

25.95

8.24

8.18

14.95

15.67

12.89

8.83

9.45

30.84

18.45

5.89

16.73

14.23

13.46

18.34

7.50

7.04

11.52

7.16

18.42

15.99

10.69

13.88

9.05

13.86

11.48

:

26.58

11.76

8.18

15.7

16.0

-4.5

14.7

-5.8

3.4

15.5

27.2

33.7

4.4

5.8

11.2

40.4

12.8

11.5

35.6

8.9

2.2

13.0

-4.4

18.1

6.7

5.5

:

2.4

42.7

0.0

Note: Based on the standard domestic consumer D3 (83.70 GJ/year) on the 1st of January of each calendar year.

Source: Eurostat 

Focusing  on  price  trends  for  natural  gas  with  all  taxes
included,  and  recalling  the  parallelism  characterising  the
different  price  categories,  similar  observations  can  be
made as those for pricing without taxes, though with certain
differences. 

For  the  EU-27  in  2007,  the  average  price  domestic
consumers had to pay was EUR 14.95. Based on the data
available for the EU-27, the increase was 15.7% between
2006  and  2007,  slightly  under  the  increase  calculated  for
the Gigajoule price without taxes (16.8% - see Table 4.11).

Looking at differences between Member States, and based
on  the  country  data  available,  prices  ranged  from  EUR
30.84  in  Denmark  -  twice  the  average  EU  price  -  to  EUR
5.89 in Estonia. The three Baltic States, i.e. Estonia, Latvia
and  Lithuania,  and  Hungary  reported  the  lowest  prices
among  the  Member  States.  In  seven  out  27  EU  Member
States, prices were over the EU average price.

Figure  4.13  gives  a  graphical  representation  of  prices  in
2007, with and without taxes, ranking them according to the
price  with  taxes.  The  graph  reveals  that  taxation  is
particularly high in Denmark and Sweden.



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4. Prices and taxes

Figure 4.13: Natural gas for households: composition of  the price for one Gigajoule (GCV), 1 January 2007 - in EUR

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

EU-
27

EU-
15

EE

LT HU LV BG RO CZ PL SK LU UK BE FR

SI

PT ES AT

IE

IT

NL DE SE DK

Price without taxes

Taxes

Note: Based on the standard domestic consumer D3 (83.70 GJ/year). 

Source: Eurostat 

Figure 4.14: Natural gas for households: average price of

one  Gigajoule  (GCV),  1  January  2007  -  in  Purchasing

Power Standards (PPS)

In  the  same  year,  taxes  accounted  for  about  22%  of  the
average  EU-27  price  (see  Figure  4.13).  In  Denmark,
however,  they  made  up  more  than  half  at  56%,  and  in
Sweden  they  amounted  to  43%.  At  the  other  end  of  the
spectrum  came  the  United  Kingdom  and  Portugal,  with
taxes of 5%. In Luxembourg, they amounted to 6%.

Using purchasing power parities (PPS) - which eliminates
differences in price levels between countries, giving a more
accurate  picture  of  the  relative  purchasing  power  of
households - the order in this continuum changes (Figure
4.14). 

In 2007, households in Bulgaria were spending the most on
one Gigajoule of natural gas (at 22.32 PPS) compared with
their EU neighbours. Estonian households were spending
the least, at 9.23 PPS, ahead of Luxembourg households
at  9.79  PPS.  The  concept  of  the  PPS  is  particularly  well
illustrated  by  the  example  of  Luxembourg  and  Slovakia,
which pay similar prices expressed in euros (EUR 11.52 for
a  Gigajoule  in  Luxembourg,  EUR  11.48  in  Slovakia).
Expressed  in  PPS,  this  price  'hurts'  far  less  in  a  high-
income country like Luxembourg, where the price amounts
to 9.79 PPS, whereas it is 18.17 PPS in Slovakia.

BG

DK

SE

SI

PL

SK

DE

IT

NL

PT

RO

CZ

AT

ES

IE

LV

LT

FR

BE

HU

UK

LU

EE

22.32

21.74

21.11

18.38

18.31

18.17

17.27

17.09

16.88

15.84

15.39

15.10

15.00

14.61

13.29

12.82

12.74

12.07

12.03

11.33

10.07

9.79

9.23

0

5

10

15

20

25

Note: Based on the standard domestic consumer D3  (83.70 GJ/year).
All data are provisional.

Source: Eurostat 

70

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4.3.2. Prices and taxes for natural gas used by industrial consumers

With regard to industrial consumption of natural gas (Figure
4.15),  the  evolution  of  prices  followed  much  the  same
general path - with the same graphical pattern of ups and
downs, and the steep upturns between 2000 and 2001 and
between 2005 and 2007 - as that for households. 

Moreover, the margins between the price categories were
much  narrower,  even  non-existent,  reflecting  stable
taxation over the years. Increases were exactly the same in
many  years  and  the  gaps  that  appeared  were  limited  to
about two or three percentage points.

4. Prices and taxes

However, the percentage changes were over twice as large
in  magnitude,  with  prices  growing  from  1997  to  2007  by
127% for all taxes included, 124% without VAT and 126%
without taxes. 

Figure 4.15: Development of  the average cost of  one GJ for industrial natural gas consumption, EU-15 (1997=100) - in EUR

260

240

220

200

180

160

140

120

100

80

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Note: Based on the standard industrial consumption I3-1 (41 860 GJ/year) on the 1st of January of each calendar year. 

Source: Eurostat 

Without taxes

Without VAT

All taxes included

Referring to data in Table 4.16, industry in the EU-27 paid
an  average  EUR  9.40  (without  VAT,  as  most  industrial
consumers  are  exempt  from  paying  this  tax)  for  one
Gigajoule of natural gas in 2007. 

Especially for EU-15, the average price in 2007 (EUR 9.71
per Gigajoule) stood 124% higher compared than a decade
earlier  (1997:  EUR  4.33).  Over  this  time  span,  important
increases were registered before 2001 and after 2005. 

In  the  meantime,  prices  concerning  individual  Member
States ranged from just EUR 3.69 in Estonia to more than
three times that amount in Germany (EUR 13.27) in 2007.
Germany, Sweden and Austria have the highest industrial
gas prices. As for electricity, prices in Bulgaria and Latvia
are marked as the lowest. Quite in contrast with the price
paid  by  industrial  consumers  in  Italy  for  electricity  (by  far
the  most  expensive  at  66%  over  the  EU  average  -  see
Table  4.9),  the  Italian  industrial  gas  price  is  relatively  low
and 4.5% under the EU average.

Looking at the change between 2006 and 2007, the three
Baltic  countries  reported  price  increases  near  equal  or
higher  than  30%:  Lithuania  (35.3%),  Latvia  (30.6%)  and
Estonia (29.9%). At the opposite end of the scale, the most
important decreases were reported by the Czech Republic
(-10.6%), Denmark (-6.5%) and France (-5.1%).

As  mentioned  earlier,  most  industrial  consumers  are
exempt  from  paying  value-added  tax.  This  is  why  Figure
4.17 shows just the base price (lower part of the bars) plus
any taxes that could apply apart from VAT (upper part of the
bars). 

Among  the  24  countries  for  which  such  information  is
available (both EU and non-EU States), 12 only apply VAT.

Gas  for  industrial  purposes  is  relatively  heavily  taxed  in
Austria,  in  the  Netherlands,  and,  to  a  lesser  extent,  in
Sweden, Germany and Slovenia.



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4. Prices and taxes

Table 4.16: Natural gas for industry: average price of  one Gigajoule (GCV), without VAT - in EUR

1997

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Change
2006-2007
(%)

EU-27

EU-15

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

ES

FR

IT

LV

LT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

:

4.33

4.16

:

:

4.44

5.47

:

3.83

3.73

3.77

4.84

:

:

5.01

2.88

4.12

5.68

:

:

:

3.81

:

4.30

5.37

2.89

:

:

6.16

5.25

:

4.68

5.10

7.90

:

4.88

4.34

5.13

6.33

:

:

5.90

4.91

:

6.71

6.15

6.26

:

7.28

:

6.69

9.14

5.91

:

:

6.03

5.42

:

4.14

5.87

7.84

2.91

4.94

4.81

5.66

5.80

:

4.21

6.17

5.20

:

6.42

5.59

6.39

2.29

5.28

:

6.85

7.87

5.18

:

:

5.98

5.28

3.50

4.20

5.21

7.50

2.91

:

4.41

5.32

6.19

3.47

3.83

5.94

5.63

6.69

7.64

4.26

5.68

2.83

4.80

5.33

6.73

7.65

4.99

:

6.50

6.78

5.32

3.78

5.11

6.79

8.87

2.75

:

4.68

6.42

6.64

3.48

3.61

6.95

6.03

7.47

8.19

5.30

6.03

3.68

5.89

5.08

6.91

9.20

6.10

6.73

8.62

8.92

7.11

4.50

7.34

6.97

11.58

2.84

:

7.24

8.25

7.64

4.05

4.45

9.01

8.18

9.37

9.40

9.71

7.03

5.22

6.56

6.52

13.27

3.69

:

7.07

7.83

8.98

5.29

6.02

9.85

9.70

9.74

10.82

11.06

6.77

7.63

6.23

7.96

7.65

7.79

12.26

9.21

6.88

7.54

7.76

7.32

8.13

8.00

8.09

12.21

10.85

6.89

9.0

8.1

-1.1

16.0

-10.6

-6.5

14.6

29.9

:

-2.3

-5.1

17.5

30.6

35.3

9.3

18.6

3.9

2.2

11.4

1.7

17.5

2.1

4.6

3.9

-0.4

17.8

0.1

Notes: Based on standard industrial consumption I3-1 (41 860 GJ/year). 

Source: Eurostat 

Figure 4.17: Natural gas for industry: composition of  the price for one Gigajoule (GCV), 1 January 2007 - in EUR

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

72

EU-
27

EU-
15

EE BG LV LT DK CZ BE ES HR RO PL PT FR SK

FI

SI

IT HU NL

LU UK AT SE DE

Price without VAT and other taxes

Taxes (excl. VAT)

Note: Based on the standard industrial consumption I3-1 (41 860 GJ/year) 

Source: Eurostat 

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Symbols and abbreviations

European Union, with the 27 Member States (BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU,
HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK)
European Union before the latest enlargement (May 2004), including the 15 Member States (BE, DK, DE,
IE, EL, ES, FR, IT, LU, NL, AT, PT, FI, SE, UK) 
Belgium
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
Estonia
Ireland
Greece
Spain
France
Italy
Cyprus
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Hungary
Malta
Netherlands
Austria
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovenia
Slovakia
Finland
Sweden
United Kingdom

Croatia
Turkey

Iceland
Norway

non available 
nil or not applicable

kilowatt hour, one watt x one hour x 103
Megawatt, or one watt x 106
Gigawatt hour, one watt x one hour x 109
Gigajoule, or one joule x 109
Terajoule, or one joule x 1012
Gross calorific value

euro (€)
euro cent (1/100 EUR) 

EU-27 

EU-15

BE
BG
CZ
DK
DE
EE
IE
EL
ES
FR
IT
CY
LV
LT
LU
HU
MT
NL
AT
PL
PT
RO
SI
SK
FI
SE
UK

HR
TR

IS
NO

:
-

kWh

MW 

GWh

GJ

TJ
GCV

EUR
Cent 



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Chapter1_Energy.qxp  26/10/2007  09:11  Page 2

Chapter1_Energy.qxp  26/10/2007  09:11  Page 2

European Commission

Gas and electricity market statistics

Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities

2007 — 73 pp. — 21 x 29.7 cm

ISBN 978-92-79-06978-9
ISSN 1830-8082

Price (excluding VAT) in Luxembourg: EUR 30

Chapter1_Energy.qxp  26/10/2007  09:11  Page 2