This reflects an increase of 5.5% compared to the previous year, equating to an almost 11.0 million Terajoules total consumption value.
A breakdown of the data shows that the majority of the EU’s household energy consumption came from natural gas, which supplied 33.5%, and electricity, which contributed 24.6%.
Renewable sources made a significant contribution, accounting for 21.2% of the final energy usage, trailing natural gas and electricity. This was followed by oil and petroleum products at 9.5%, and derived heat at 8.6%.
Coal products, or solid fossil fuels, still contributed to 2.5% of household energy needs.
The analysis further highlights a dynamic shift in the type of energy sources households consumed in 2021.
Natural gas use rose by 1.8 percentage points, renewable energy usage climbed by 0.9 percentage points, and derived heat by 0.4 percentage points. Conversely, the shares of oil and petroleum products tumbled significantly, down by 2.8 percentage points, while electricity and solid fossil fuels each saw a minor dip of 0.2 percentage points.
The largest proportion of household energy consumption was attributed to home heating, consuming 64.4% of the final energy, followed by water heating at 14.5%.
A substantial 13.6% of energy usage was due to electricity needed for lighting and most electrical appliances. This calculation, however, does not include electricity employed for major heating, cooling, or cooking systems.
Cooking appliances made up for 6.0% of the energy consumed, while other uses and space cooling accounted for 1.1% and 0.5% respectively.
Space and water heating, which together represent a significant 78.9% of the final energy consumption in households, recorded an increase of 1.0 percentage points from 2020.
The year 2021 also marked an upturn in consumption for all six energy end-uses mentioned, with the most notable increases seen in space cooling (+10%) and space heating (+7%). Other general energy uses also saw an increase of 17% in consumption.
