The decrease in gas consumption is due to EU measures aimed at reducing the demand for gas consumption. The aim of the EU measures is to make the EU independent from Russian fossil fuels. The measure, which is part of the REPowerEU plan, set a 15 percent reduction in gas consumption for the period between August 2022 and March 2023 compared to the average of the same period of the previous five consecutive years.
Eurostat data indicate that the majority of EU countries have reached the goal of reducing gas consumption by 15 percent. There were some countries that did not, and in one member country gas consumption even increased during the period under review.
Gas consumption decreased less than planned in Slovakia (-1.0 percent), Spain (-10.8 percent), Poland (-12.5 percent), Slovenia (-13.8 percent) and Belgium (-14.5 percent ). Meanwhile, Malta, which is the smallest gas consumer among EU countries, increased its gas consumption by 12.7 percent between August 2022 and March 2023 compared to the average of the same period of the last five years.
According to Eurostat, gas consumption fell the most in Finland (-55.7 percent), Lithuania (-40.5 percent) and Sweden (-37.2 percent).
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