EU Natural Gas Demand Rose 2.5 Percent in 2025 While Several Countries Cut Use

EU inland demand for natural gas rose 2.5 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year, Euronews reported. Croatia posted the largest increase at 11.3 percent, followed by Portugal at 11.2 percent and Slovenia at 10.3 percent. Finland recorded the steepest decline at 17.7 percent, with Sweden down 9.7 percent and Estonia down 9.6 percent.

Germany, Italy and France continued to register the highest absolute levels of inland demand. Gas is used primarily for power generation, household heating and industrial processes, with around 30 percent of EU households heated by gas. Romania remained the largest natural gas producer among the 27 member states even after a 0.8 percent drop in output.

The Netherlands recorded a 3.5 percent decline and Germany a 2.3 percent decline. A 308 km pipeline linking Tuzla and Podișor, part of the Neptun Deep project in the Romanian Black Sea, is scheduled to begin deliveries in 2027. The EU imported 89 percent of its natural gas supply from outside the bloc in 2025.

Pipeline imports from Norway, Algeria, Russia, the UK, Azerbaijan and Libya accounted for 59 percent of total imports. By the end of 2027 all Russian gas imports are scheduled to end, although Hungary and Slovakia received temporary exemptions because of their landlocked locations.