Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus recorded the highest share of household energy consumption devoted to air conditioning and cooling in the European Union in 2024, according to figures released on Wednesday by Eurostat. The data highlighted the growing impact of hotter weather on domestic energy demand.
Cyprus leads EU in cooling share
Eurostat said 16 per cent of final household energy consumption in Cyprus was used for space cooling in 2024, the highest proportion among all EU member states.
Malta ranked second, with 15 per cent of household energy consumption devoted to cooling.
Comparison with other southern EU countries
Although southern European countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece consumed larger overall volumes of energy for air conditioning because of their bigger populations, Cyprus recorded the highest proportion of household energy dedicated to keeping homes cool.
Eurostat’s figures showed that Greece allocated 7.4 per cent of household energy consumption to space cooling, while the corresponding shares were 2.5 per cent in Spain and 2.3 per cent in Italy.
EU-wide cooling demand rises
Across the EU as a whole, household energy consumption for space cooling reached 80.4 thousand terajoules in 2024, reflecting the increasing importance of air conditioning as temperatures continued to rise.
The total was double the level recorded in 2018, when EU households consumed 40.5 thousand terajoules for space cooling.
According to Eurostat, household energy consumption for cooling increased every year between 2018 and 2024, except in 2020, when it declined by 2.5 per cent compared with the previous year, and in 2023, when it fell by 1.9 per cent.
Despite those temporary declines, the longer-term trend remained one of sustained growth as cooling became an increasingly important part of household energy use across Europe.
Highest absolute consumption
In absolute terms, Italy recorded the highest energy consumption for space cooling at 26.3 thousand terajoules, followed by Spain with 14.3 thousand terajoules and Greece with 11.9 thousand terajoules.
