Eurostat reports rise in household energy use for cooling across EU

According to 2024 data released by Eurostat, Cyprus leads the European Union in the share of household energy consumption dedicated to space cooling at 16.0%, followed by Malta at 15.0%. In Greece, this figure stands at 7.4%, while Spain and Italy recorded lower proportions of 2.5% and 2.3% respectively. Total household energy consumption for cooling across the EU reached 80.4 thousand terajoules (TJ) in 2024, doubling the 40.5 thousand TJ recorded in 2018. Italy reported the highest total volume of energy used for cooling at 26.3 thousand TJ, followed by Spain at 14.3 thousand TJ and Greece at 11.9 thousand TJ. The data indicates a steady annual upward trend between 2018 and 2024, with the exception of 2020 and 2023, which saw consumption declines of 2.5% and 1.9%. Experts attribute this rise to increasing global temperatures and a growing reliance on air conditioning systems.