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Indicator Assessment
Between 2005 and 2017, final energy intensity decreased in the EU by 18.6 %, at an annual average rate of 1.7 %. Final energy consumption decreased by 0.5 % per year over the same period, while gross domestic product (GDP) at 2010 prices grew by 1.2 % per year. Improvements in total final energy intensity were the result of structural changes in the economy, such as a shift from industry towards services and a shift towards processes that are less energy intensive, and energy efficiency improvements in the industry sector (see ENER 016). In addition, the economic crisis of 2008 played an important role in decreasing final energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency. Since 1990, total final energy intensity in the EU has decreased by 35 %, at a rate of 1.6 % per year.
Sectoral trends between 2005 and 2017:
National trends between 2005 and 2017:
The final energy intensity trend has varied among EEA countries between 2005 and 2017. The smallest decreases by less than 1% occurred in Greece, Finland and Turkey. The largest decreases by more than 3 % per year occurred in Ireland, Slovakia and Romania. These relatively large reductions in final energy intensities in these countries were partly due to economic recovery after the economic crisis in combination with an overall reduction in final energy consumption. There are various reasons for the reduction in final energy consumption: the general shift from industry towards a more service-based economy, a shift within industry to activities and production methods that are less energy intensive, the closure of inefficient units and an increase in the use of techniques and appliances that are more energy efficient.
Final energy intensity increased in Iceland by 1.3 % per year. In Iceland, geothermal energy sources have been put into use for heat generation in the households sector and for the production of electricity, which is mainly used in industry (NEA, 2014). As a consequence, the final energy intensity for the households sector in Iceland increased as geothermal energy sources are much less efficient than conventional sources.
This indicator measures final energy consumption, which covers energy supplied to the final consumer for all energy uses. It is calculated as the sum of the final energy consumption of all end-use sectors. These sectors are disaggregated to cover the industry, transport, households, services and agriculture sectors.
Total final energy intensity is defined as total final energy consumption (consumption of transformed energy, i.e. electricity, publicly supplied heat, refined oil products, coke, etc., and the direct use of primary fuels such as gas or renewables, e.g. solar heat or biomass) divided by GDP at 2010 prices. For a comparison of GDP and final energy intensity in a year between countries, the GDP figures can be taken at purchasing power parity (PPP) to eliminate the differences in price levels, allowing meaningful volume comparisons of GDP figures between countries.
Final energy consumption is measured in 1 000 tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) and GDP is measured in millions of euros. Energy intensity is measured in tonnes of oil equivalent per million euros (GDP or GVA), except in the case of households energy intensity, which is measured in tonnes of oil equivalent per 1 000 of population.
Environmental context
On 25 February 2015, the Communication on the Energy Union Strategy was adopted. The Energy Union Strategy has five mutually reinforcing and closely interrelated dimensions designed to bring greater energy security, sustainability and competitiveness to the EU:
This indicator shows the extent to which energy consumption in various sectors (households, services, agriculture, industry and transport) is being decoupled from economic growth, thus underpinning (but not exhaustively addressing) assessments of progress towards energy efficiency. Relative decoupling occurs when energy consumption grows, albeit more slowly than the underlying driver. Absolute decoupling occurs when energy consumption is stable or falls while the driver grows.
A shift towards absolute decoupling would indicate that pressures on the environment from energy production and consumption are decreasing (because of avoided energy supply) but the magnitude of the impact depends both on the total amount of avoided energy consumption and on the implications for the energy mix (in other words, which fuels have been used less because of the reduction in final energy consumption).
Policy context
Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency establishes a common framework of measures for the promotion of energy efficiency within the EU in order to achieve the headline target of a 20 % reduction in gross inland energy consumption by 2020. Member States are requested to set indicative targets. It is up to the individual Member States to decide whether they base their targets on gross inland consumption, final energy consumption, primary or final energy savings, or energy intensity.
At an EU summit in October 2014, EU countries agreed on a new energy efficiency target of 27 % or greater by 2030. The European Commission had proposed 30 % in its Communication on energy efficiency of 23 July 2014.
Technical information
Methodology of data manipulation:
Coding (used in the Eurostat database) and specific components of indicators:
GVA data for the industry, agriculture, households, transport and services sectors are not available in the Eurostat data set for all countries between 1990 and 2017. The GDP for the EU-28 is the sum of all countries' GDPs. Final energy consumption data for the agriculture and fisheries sector are not available for Germany.
Average annual rate of growth calculated using: [(last year/base year) ^ (1/number of years) - 1]*100.
No methodology for gap filling has been specified. Probably this info has been added together with indicator calculation.
No methodology references available.
Reliability, accuracy, robustness and uncertainty (at data level)
Indicator uncertainty (historic data).
The sectoral breakdown of final energy consumption includes the industry, transport, households and services, agriculture, fisheries and other sectors. To be consistent with projected data, the indicator aggregates agriculture, fisheries and other sectors together with the services sector. The inclusion of agriculture and fisheries together with the services sector is, however, questionable given their divergent trends.
Because the main focus of the indicator is on trends, energy intensity is presented as an index. It should be noted that the final energy intensities between sectors, and also the total final energy intensity, are not directly comparable, because, as described above, the definitions of energy intensity within each sector are not identical. The indicator serves to highlight the evolution of energy intensity within each sector.
Methodology uncertainty: reliability, accuracy, robustness and uncertainty (at data level)
The share of energy consumption for a particular fuel could decrease even if the actual amount of energy used from that fuel increased, as the development of the share for a particular fuel depends on the change in its consumption relative to the total consumption of energy.
From an environmental point of view, however, the relative contribution of each fuel has to be considered in the wider context. Absolute (as opposed to relative) volumes of energy consumption for each fuel are the key to understanding the environmental pressures. These depend on the total amount of energy consumption as well as on the fuel mix used and the extent to which pollution abatement technologies are used.
Gross inland energy consumption may not accurately represent the energy needs of a country in terms of final energy demand. Fuel switching may, in some cases, have a significant effect on changing gross inland energy consumption even though there is no change in final energy demand.
Data set uncertainty
Strengths and weaknesses (at data level)
Data have traditionally been compiled by Eurostat through the annual joint questionnaires of Eurostat and the International Energy Agency, following a well-established and harmonised methodology. Methodological information on the annual joint questionnaires and data compilation can be found on Eurostat's web page for metadata on energy statistics (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/methodology/annual).
From 2019, Eurostat changed the methodology for energy balances, which changed the energy consumption data compared with previous years. Therefore, this year’s results and those of previous years are less comparable. More information on these changes can be found at The Energy Balance Guide (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/38154/4956218/ENERGY-BALANCE-GUIDE-DRAFT-31JANUARY2019.pdf/cf121393-919f-4b84-9059-cdf0f69ec045) and in a document that can be found at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/10186/6246844/Eurobase-changes-energy.pdf
No uncertainty has been specified
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/final-energy-consumption-intensity-5/assessment or scan the QR code.
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