- Data extracted in March 2016. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned article update: June 2018.
(million toe)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and the International Energy Agency (Balances)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and the International Energy Agency (Balances)
,_2013.png)
(% of total production)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and the International Energy Agency (Balances)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and the International Energy Agency (Balances)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and (demo_gind), the International Energy Agency (Electricity) and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Health Nutrition and Population Statistics)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_105a) and the International Energy Agency (Electricity)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and the International Energy Agency (Balances)
,_2013.png)
(% of total gross inland consumption)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and the International Energy Agency (Balances)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a) and the International Energy Agency (Balances)
(toe per 1 000 international USD)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_100a), the International Energy Agency (Balances) and the World Bank, International Comparison Program database
This article is part of a set of statistical articles based on Eurostat’s publication The EU in the world 2016.
The article focuses on energy statistics in the European Union (EU) and in the 15 non-EU members of the Group of Twenty (G20).
It covers key indicators on energy production and consumption and gives an insight into the EU’s energy sector in comparison with the major economies in the rest of the world, such as its counterparts in the so-called Triad — Japan and the United States — and the BRICS composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Main statistical findings
Key figures
Primary production of energy is any extraction of energy products in a useable form from natural sources. This occurs either when natural sources are exploited (for example, in coal mines, crude oil fields, hydro power plants) or in the fabrication of biofuels. Transforming energy from one form into another is generally not primary production. Primary production of energy in the EU-28 totalled 790 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) in 2013 while worldwide production that year reached 13 594 million toe. The members of the G20 accounted for approximately 72 % of the world’s energy production, with China, the United States and Russia recording each a higher production than the EU-28.
Between 2003 and 2013, global primary production of energy increased by 32 % (see Table 1). China’s primary production increased 84 % during this period, while output in Indonesia increased by 80 %. Japan’s production fell by 71 %, in large part due to a fall in output from nuclear energy following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The EU-28 had the third largest fall in production (by 16 %), reflecting supplies becoming exhausted and/or producers considering the exploitation of limited resources uneconomical.
Primary production
The source of energy production in the EU-28 was more varied than in any of the other G20 members
For many of the G20 members the mix of energy sources for primary production in 2013 was dominated by just one type (see Table 2 and Figure 1). In South Africa, Australia and China close to three quarters or more of primary production came from coal and lignite, while in Indonesia coal and lignite’s share was 61 % and it almost reached half of the production in Turkey and India. In Saudi Arabia and Mexico oil was dominant, while in South Korea nuclear energy contributed by far the largest share and in Japan (after the suspension of the operation of many nuclear plants) the main source of primary production was renewables and waste. Production in Brazil, India and Turkey was a mixture from renewables and waste as well as one type of fossil fuel (including coal, oil or natural gas), oil for Brazil and coal and lignite for India and Turkey. By contrast, Argentina, Canada, Russia and the United States had substantial shares of production spread across two or three types of fossil fuels, with none of them accounting for more than half of their total production.
Energy production in the EU-28 was more varied than in any of the other G20 members with only oil among the five types of energy sources (shown in Table 2 and Figure 1) failing to attain at least a 10 % share of total production in 2013, while none of them exceeded 30 %. This variety reflects the availability of different fossil fuel deposits and the potential for hydro power among EU Member States as well as differing policies towards nuclear fuels and renewables.
Renewable energy sources are sources that replenish (or renew) themselves naturally and include biomass and renewable wastes, hydropower, geothermal energy, wind energy, solar energy, wave and tidal power. Non-renewable waste may be industrial or municipal waste.
The main difference between levels of primary energy production and gross inland consumption is international trade: a shortfall of production needs to be met by positive net imports (the balance of imports minus exports) and a production surplus is generally accompanied by negative net imports. As well as primary production and international trade, gross inland consumption takes into account changes in stocks and the supply of energy to bunkers (for maritime transport for example).
Among the non-EU G20 members, the largest net exporters of energy in 2013, i.e. countries where the value of exports exceeded the one of imports, were Russia (593 million toe) and Saudi Arabia (420 million toe), followed by Indonesia and Australia which both exceeded 200 million toe (see Table 3). The largest net importer was the EU-28 (908 million toe), followed by China, Japan and the United States. Between 2003 and 2013, Argentina moved from being a net exporter of energy to a net importer. Among net importers, the United States reduced the gap between exports and imports by 320 million toe during the same period, while this gap increased greatly for China and India. Among net exporters, there were large increases for Indonesia and Russia.
Oil dominates imports
An analysis of the composition of gross energy imports (see Table 3) shows that oil products dominated worldwide (65.8 %) and in most G20 members. These products accounted for more than half of all energy imports in each of the G20 members except for Russia (mainly coal and lignite), Argentina (mainly gas) and Turkey (oil and gas together accounted for 80 %).
Electricity generation
Gross electricity generation (also known as gross electricity production), is the total amount of electrical energy produced by transforming other forms of energy, for example nuclear or wind power. Total gross electricity generation worldwide was 23.4 million gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2013 (see Table 4), of which 84.6 % was generated by G20 members. In absolute terms, China and the United States had the highest levels of electricity generation among G20 members (5.4 respective 4.3 million GWh). A total of 3.3 million GWh of electricity was generated in the EU-28 in 2013.
Nuclear power contributed 26.6 % of the electricity generated in the EU-28
Coal and lignite-fired power stations generated two fifths of electricity worldwide in 2013; this share was boosted by a high use of these fuels in South Africa, China, India and Australia. Gas-fired power stations generated more than one fifth of the world’s electricity with this fuel providing at least half of the electricity generated in Mexico, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Russia. Nuclear power contributed to 26.6 % of the electricity generated in the EU-28 followed closely by South Korea with 25.6 %, both which were more than double the world’s average at 10.6 %.
Hydro provided less than half of the EU-28’s electricity from renewables and waste
Hydro-electric power, other renewables and waste supplied 22.2 % of the world’s electricity in 2013, with a somewhat higher share recorded in the EU-28 in 2013 (28.5 %) (see Table 4 and Figure 2). The G20 members with the highest proportion of gross electricity generation from renewables and waste were Brazil (76.8 %) and Canada (62.8 %). Hydro-electricity provided more than half of the electricity generated from renewables and waste in all G20 members except for two: in the EU-28 more electricity was generated from waste and renewables other than hydro (than from hydro power) in 2013; Saudi Arabia had no hydro power and a negligible share of electricity generated from renewables and waste.
Energy consumption
Gross inland consumption (also known as total primary energy supply), is the total energy demand of a country or region. It represents the quantity of energy necessary to satisfy inland consumption of the geographical entity under consideration. This covers: consumption by the energy sector itself; distribution and transformation losses; final energy consumption by end users; and statistical differences.
Japan, the EU-28 and the United States were the only G20 members to record lower gross consumption in 2013 than 10 years earlier
Worldwide gross inland energy consumption was 13.5 billion toe in 2013 (see Table 1), of which the G20 members accounted for around four fifths (79 %), 7 percentage points higher than their collective share of production. Worldwide gross consumption increased 31 % between 2003 and 2013, with Japan, the EU-28 and the United States the only G20 members to record lower consumption in 2013 than 10 years earlier. China’s gross inland consumption more than doubled (111 %), while Saudi Arabia, India and Turkey also recorded increases in excess of 50 %.
Just a bit less than one third of worldwide gross consumption of energy in 2013 derived from oil products, while coal and lignite accounted for a slightly lower share, and just over one fifth of the total was gas; combined these three fuels accounted for just over four fifths (81.4 %) of global energy consumption (see Table 5). Gross inland consumption was entirely satisfied by such fossil fuels in Saudi Arabia while they provided more than 90 % of gross inland consumption in Japan, Australia, Russia, Mexico and Argentina (see Figure 3).
South Korea had the highest share of nuclear energy in gross inland consumption in 2013, 13.7 %, but this share was considerably lower than for primary production, indicating South Korea’s high dependency on imported fossil fuels, notably oil products. The EU-28 had the second highest share of nuclear energy in gross inland consumption (13.6 %), followed by Canada (10.6 %) and the United States (9.8 %).
Brazil, Indonesia and India recorded highest shares for renewables and waste
Worldwide, renewables and waste accounted for 13.8 % of gross inland energy consumption. As for primary production, Brazil, Indonesia and India recorded above the worldwide average shares for renewables and waste in gross inland consumption, as did Canada reflecting its large net exports of fossil fuels. By contrast, the EU-28, Turkey and Japan recorded below average shares of renewables and waste in gross inland energy consumption, despite above average primary production, reflecting their net imports of fossil fuels.
Energy dependency
In Japan, South Korea, Turkey and the EU-28 more than half of gross inland consumption was met by imports
The energy dependency indicator shown in Figure 4 reveals the extent to which gross inland energy consumption was met by net imports — members with a negative value are net exporters. Japan, South Korea, Turkey and the EU-28 all had energy dependency ratios in excess of 50 % in 2013, indicating that more than half of their gross inland energy consumption was met by net imports. By contrast, Indonesia’s and Australia’s net exports exceeded its gross inland energy consumption, resulting in an energy dependency ratio that was below – 100 %, while Saudi Arabia’s net exports were more than twice as high as its gross inland energy consumption leading to an energy dependency ratio that was below – 200 %.
As already noted, between 2003 and 2013 Argentina moved from being a net exporter to being a net importer of energy, as a result of which its dependency ratio moved from negative to positive. During the same period, negative energy dependency ratios increased in Canada, Russia, Indonesia and Australia as their net exports grew more rapidly than their gross consumption, while the negative ratios of Saudi Arabia, Mexico and South Africa decreased, reflecting a fall in net exports (Mexico and South Africa) or net exports growing at a slower pace than gross consumption (Saudi Arabia). The United States’ positive energy dependency ratio fell between 2003 and 2013 as net imports fell faster than gross consumption, while Brazil’s positive ratio fell as net imports grew more slowly than gross consumption. The positive energy dependency ratios for the EU-28 and Japan increased as net imports grew while gross consumption fell, and Turkey, India and China also reported increasing positive ratios as net imports grew faster than gross consumption.
Energy intensity
Energy intensity is an indicator of an economy’s energy efficiency and relates the quantity of energy consumed to the level of economic output, the latter represented by gross domestic product (GDP). In order to facilitate a comparison over time, GDP is shown in constant prices to remove the effects of inflation. To facilitate spatial comparisons GDP is calculated in a common currency (United States dollars are used in Figure 5) using purchasing power parities (PPPs) rather than market exchange rates: PPPs are indicators of price level differences across countries. It should be noted that the economic structure of an economy plays an important role in determining energy intensity, as post-industrial economies with large service sectors tend to have considerably lower energy use than economies characterised by heavy, traditional, industrial activities.
Energy intensity fell or remained stable between 2003 and 2013 in all G20 members
Energy intensity fell between 2003 and 2013 for all G20 members for whom data are available (see Figure 5) except for Brazil where the energy intensity ratio remained stable. During this period, substantial energy efficiencies were introduced in the economies of Indonesia, Russia, India, China and Canada as their energy intensities fell by more than one fifth. Nevertheless, Russia maintained its position as the most energy intense economy among the G20 members. By contrast, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, EU-28, Japan and Mexico had the lowest energy intensities.
Data sources and availability
The statistical data in this article were extracted during March 2016.
The indicators are often compiled according to international — sometimes global — standards. Although most data are based on international concepts and definitions there may be certain discrepancies in the methods used to compile the data.
EU data
Most if not all of the indicators presented for the EU have been drawn from Eurobase, Eurostat’s online database. Eurobase is updated regularly, so there may be differences between data appearing in this article and data that is subsequently downloaded.
G20 members from the rest of the world
For the 15 non-EU G20 members, the data presented have been extracted from a range of international sources, namely the International Energy Agency and the World Bank. For some of the indicators shown a range of international statistical sources are available, each with their own policies and practices concerning data management (for example, concerning data validation, correction of errors, estimation of missing data and frequency of updating). In general, attempts have been made to use only one source for each indicator in order to provide a comparable analysis between the members.
Context
A competitive, reliable and sustainable energy sector is considered essential for all advanced economies. The energy sector has been under the spotlight due to a number of issues that have pushed energy up the political agenda, including the volatility of prices, interruptions to energy supplies, and increased attention to anthropogenic (human-induced) effects of energy use on climate change, in particular, increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
See also
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- The EU in the world 2015
- Key figures on the enlargement countries — 2014 edition
- Energy, transport and environment indicators — 2013 edition
- Pocketbook on Euro-Mediterranean statistics — 2013 edition
- The European Union and the African Union — 2013 edition
- The European Union and the BRIC countries
- The European Union and the Republic of Korea — 2012
Main tables
- Energy (t_nrg), see:
- Energy statistics - quantities (t_nrg_quant)
- Total gross electricity generation (ten00087)
- Energy dependence (tsdcc310)
Database
- Energy (nrg), see:
- Energy statistics - quantities, annual data (nrg_quant)
- Energy statistics - supply, transformation, consumption (nrg_10)
- Simplified energy balances - annual data (nrg_100a)
- Supply, transformation and consumption of electricity - annual data (nrg_105a)
- Energy statistics - supply, transformation, consumption (nrg_10)
- Population change – Demographic balance and crude rates at national level (demo_gind)
Dedicated section
Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)
External links
- International Energy Agency (IEA)
- OECD
- World Bank