Is final energy consumption decreasing in Europe?

Policy Question

Indicator codes: ENER 016

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(29 Nov 2018)

Between 2005 and 2016, final energy consumption decreased by 7.1% (0.7% annually) in the EU28. Final energy consumption decreased in all sectors, particularly in industry and households (16.4 %, and 8.0% respectively) but also in transport (0.5%). In the services sector the final energy consumption increased (3.8%). The overall decrease in final energy consumption since 2005 was influenced by economic performance, structural changes in various end-use sectors, in particular industry, improvements in end-use efficiency and lower heat consumption due to favorable climatic conditions particularly in 2011 and 2014.
Between 2015 and 2016, the final energy consumption in the EU28 increased by 2% above its 2020 target.
Preliminary data for 2017 suggest that the final energy consumption since 2005 decreased by 6.1% in the EU28 (0.5% annually), and increased between 2016 and 2017 by 1.1%.
Between 1990 and 2016 the final energy consumption increased by 2.1% in the EU28 and by 7.5% in the EEA countries.
In the EEA countries final energy consumption decreased by 3.9% (0.4% annually) between 2005 and 2016. The largest contributor of this decrease was the industry (15.7%) and the household sector (11.6%). On average, each person in the EEA countries used 2.0 tonnes of oil equivalent to meet their energy needs in 2016.