Natural gas usage fell in the majority of EU member states between August and November 2022. Photo credit: Ec.europa.eu.
Europe, Dec 23 (BD) – The EU’s use of natural gas between August and November 2022 fell by 20.1%, compared to the average consumption for the same period between 2017 and 2021, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and submitted by the national statistical institutes of the member countries.
The EU Council’s regulation on coordinated demand reduction measures for gas, which form part of the REPowerEU plan to end EU reliance on Russian fossil fuels, established a 15% reduction target for the period August 2022–March 2023, compared to the five-year average.
Natural gas usage fell in the majority of member states between August and November 2022. 18 member states managed to cut consumption by more than the 15% threshold, some by significantly more; Finland (-52.7%), Latvia (-43.2%), and Lithuania (-41.6%) saw the greatest decreases in consumption.
Six member states – including the Czech Republic – reduced their natural gas use, but have not yet met the 15% target. In two countries, natural gas consumption actually rose: Malta (+7.1%) and Slovakia (+2.6%). Cyprus does not use natural gas in its energy mix.
Monthly consumption from January to November 2022 has been consistently below the 2017–2021 average for each month. The drop from the five-year average was 12.9% in May, then 7.1% in June, before becoming steadily more significant through August (13.9%), September (14.2%), October (24.2%), and November (23.6%).
