Gas demand reduction in the EU
EU countries collectively reduced by 19% the amount of natural gas consumed in the EU between August 2022 and January 2023. This amounted to 41.5 billion cubic metres (bcm).
The consumption reduction was the result of common rules, adopted in summer 2022, which set a voluntary natural gas consumption reduction target of 15% for the period August 2022 to March 2023 compared to their average consumption over the past five years. Member states could choose themselves which measures to use to reach the target.
The amount of natural gas savings varied greatly across the member states with some countries achieving small reductions and others reducing consumption by over 40%.
Natural gas demand reductions help secure energy supplies.
Natural gas consumption reduction in the EU
(in terajoule)
Chart showing natural gas consumption in the EU: consumption between August and January from 2017 to 2022 (average) compared to consumption between August 2022 and January 2023.