EU dependence on energy imports is growing

In the EU, imports of fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas, are growing steadily, and production is falling in contrast to the rest of the world. These are the findings of the European Commission's latest statistical yearbook on EU energy.

According to this study, energy production in the world in 1995-2014 increased from 9263 to 13805 Mtoe (million tons of oil equivalent). The rise in production during this period occurred in all parts of the world, and in the European Union it fell from 966 to 775 Mtoe. For comparison, in these years: energy production in the United States increased from 1.659 to 2.912 Mtoe, in China - from 1064 to 2593 Mtoe.

All over the world, with the exception of the EU, there has been an increase in energy consumption. In addition, in the EU, it declined at a slower pace than energy production. This, in turn, means that the growing EU dependence on imports in 1995-2014 increased from 43.1 to 53.5 percent. For gas, the share of imports from outside the European Union increased in this period from 43.4 to 67.4 percent, crude oil and oil products from 74.1 to 87.4 percent, coal from 21.5 to 45.6 percent.