Luxembourg Uses Four Times as Much Energy per Person as Romania
Silver Data Lab Research Desk · Statistical analysis · Published on 24 July 2026
- Data source
- Eurostat
- Reference period
- 2024
- Last updated
- 24 July 2026
Key estimates
- The EU consumed 2.0 tonnes of oil equivalent per inhabitant in primary energy in 2024.
- Luxembourg records 5.21, Finland 3.98 and Sweden 2.87.
- Romania records 1.23, Malta 1.30 and Portugal 1.54 and Bulgaria 1.54.
- The Luxembourg figure is 4.2 times the Romanian one.
- Thirteen Member States are above the EU average and fourteen below it.
Energy before it becomes anything
Primary energy consumption counts energy at the point it enters an economy — crude oil, gas, coal, nuclear heat, renewable generation — before conversion losses in power stations and refineries. It is the broadest available measure of how much energy a country uses.
For the EU in 2024 it was 2.0 tonnes of oil equivalent per inhabitant.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg records 5.21, more than two and a half times the EU average and the highest in the Union by a wide margin.
Part of that is genuine: Luxembourg is wealthy, industrialised and cold in winter. Most of it is not about people living in Luxembourg at all.
Fuel sold in Luxembourg is consumed by drivers who live elsewhere. Excise duty is lower than in the neighbouring countries, so road fuel is bought there and burnt in Belgium, France and Germany. It is counted against Luxembourg's population of 680,000.
The country also hosts a large cross-border commuting workforce — well over a third of the people working in Luxembourg live outside it — whose energy use at work is Luxembourg's and whose residence is not.
Per-capita energy figures for a small country with an open border and cheaper fuel do not measure what they appear to measure.
Finland and Sweden
Finland records 3.98 and Sweden 2.87.
These are the figures that do reflect real conditions. Both have long cold winters, energy-intensive forest and metal industries, low population density and long distances. The regional density study on this site records their northern regions at three to six inhabitants per square kilometre.
Finland is also the Member State with the lowest share of households unable to keep their homes adequately warm, at 2.6%. High energy consumption and low energy poverty are the same fact seen from two sides: heating is treated as essential and provided for accordingly.
The low end
Romania records 1.23, Malta 1.30, Portugal 1.54 and Bulgaria 1.54.
Mild winters explain part of it. Lower incomes explain more. Romania and Bulgaria are among the Union's poorest Member States, and energy consumption tracks income closely at this end of the distribution.
Malta and Portugal are the Mediterranean cases where climate is doing most of the work.
Reading it as a sustainability measure
Low energy consumption per head is not automatically a good outcome, and this is where the indicator needs care.
Romania consumes little energy and has among the Union's worst material deprivation. Portugal consumes little and has warm winters. The first is constraint and the second is climate, and both record the same kind of number.
What the EU's efficiency targets are aimed at is consumption per unit of output rather than per person — using less energy for the same activity. This indicator measures neither efficiency nor sufficiency directly, and a fall in it can mean a more efficient economy or a smaller one.
Primary energy consumption per person, 2024
| Country | tonnes of oil equivalent per inhabitant | Gap to EU averagepercentage points, derived |
|---|---|---|
| Luxembourg | 5.21 | +3.2 |
| Finland | 3.98 | +2.0 |
| Sweden | 2.87 | +0.9 |
| European Unionaggregate | 2.00 | — |
| Portugal | 1.54 | −0.5 |
| Malta | 1.30 | −0.7 |
| Romania | 1.23 | −0.8 |
What these figures cannot tell you
- Cross-border fuel sales distort small countries
- Energy is counted where it is sold. Luxembourg's figure includes road fuel bought there and burnt abroad, and the energy use of a commuting workforce that lives outside its borders. Its position is largely an artefact of geography and fuel duty.
- Primary, not final energy
- The measure counts energy entering the economy, including losses in conversion and transmission. A country generating electricity from thermal plants records more primary energy than one importing the same electricity.
- Low consumption is not necessarily good
- Consumption tracks income closely at the bottom of this ranking. Romania's low figure reflects low incomes as much as efficiency, and it coexists with high material deprivation.
- Per person, not per unit of output
- EU efficiency targets concern energy used per unit of economic activity. This indicator divides by population, so it reflects industrial structure and climate as much as efficiency.
Frequently asked questions
- How much energy does the average European use?
- 2.0 tonnes of oil equivalent per inhabitant in primary energy in 2024. National figures range from 5.21 in Luxembourg to 1.23 in Romania.
- Why is Luxembourg's energy consumption so high?
- Because energy is counted where it is sold. Fuel duty in Luxembourg is lower than in its neighbours, so road fuel is bought there and burnt in Belgium, France and Germany, and is counted against a population of 680,000. A large cross-border commuting workforce adds to the same effect.
- Which EU countries genuinely use the most energy?
- Finland at 3.98 and Sweden at 2.87 tonnes of oil equivalent per inhabitant. Both have long cold winters, energy-intensive forest and metal industries, and very low population density in their northern regions.
- Is low energy consumption a good sign?
- Not automatically. At the bottom of this ranking consumption tracks income: Romania and Bulgaria consume little partly because they are among the Union's poorest Member States. Efficiency is measured as energy per unit of output, which this indicator does not report.
Methodological note
Eurostat publishes primary energy consumption in tonnes of oil equivalent per inhabitant, measuring gross available energy excluding non-energy uses.
Values are for 2024, the most recent year with complete coverage of the 27 Member States at the extraction date.
The counts of Member States above and below the EU average and the ratio between the highest and lowest are derived by Silver Data Lab. The explanation of the Luxembourg figure by cross-border fuel sales and commuting is offered as a well-established characteristic of that market rather than as a finding from this extraction. The comparisons with energy poverty and regional density draw on companion studies on this site.
Source data
The underlying series can be inspected and re-downloaded from the Eurostat data browser. The filters below are the ones applied.
Primary energy consumption
sdg_07_11
- Filters applied:
- freq=A · unit=TOE_HAB · time=2024
- Extracted:
- 2026-08-11
- Source last updated:
- 2026-07-21
Download the data
The data the study you have just read is built on, exactly as it was downloaded and archived.
Yours as a Member.
Data downloadable by Members
Ask the research desk
A question about this study — a definition, a filter, a break in the series, what the figures can and cannot support — answered by the desk that made the extraction.
Members can write to the research desk