The East of England accounted for the highest average household electricity consumption in Great Britain in 2022. That year, it added up to 3,720 kilowatt-hours per household. In comparison, households in the North East of England had the lowest average consumption, at 2,906 kilowatt-hours per household. End user consumption of electricity in the UK Despite continual annual declines in consumption since 2005, households have remained the largest electricity end-users in the UK since 2005. In 2020, amidst lockdown measures following the coronavirus outbreak, the gap between domestic and industrial consumption grew even wider. In 2022, domestic electricity consumption in the UK amounted to 96 terawatt-hours, while industrial consumption recorded the lowest figure of the century, at some 85 terawatt-hours. Declining electricity consumption in the UK Electricity consumption in the UK has seen a dramatic decrease in the past two decades, at least partially related to increased efficiency in equipment and distribution. In 2022, consumption from all electricity suppliers in the UK stood at 275 terawatt-hours. Projections indicate that the UK's electricity consumption will resume a growing trend after 2025, to surpass 32 million tons of oil equivalent in 2040.

Household electricity consumption in the UK has been annually declining for most of the century. Households in the United Kingdom used to consume over 100 terawatt-hours of electricity every year. However, in 2022, domestic electricity consumption dropped below 100 terawatt-hours and it amounted to approximately 92 terawatt-hours in 2023.

The consumption of electricity in the United Kingdom has fluctuated on an annual and seasonal basis throughout the period depicted, and indicated a general downward trend. Demand was consistently higher in the winter months, peaking each year in January or December. In April 2024, electricity consumption in the UK amounted to **** terawatt-hours. Domestic users consume the most electricity Although the industrial sector's electricity demand was higher between 1990 and 2005, domestic consumers have since reclaimed their spot as the largest electricity end users in the UK. East and South East England were the regions with the highest domestic electricity consumption in Great Britain, with more than *** megawatt-hours consumed per household in 2022. Declining electricity demand in the UK Electricity consumption in the UK has seen a mostly continual decrease since the turn of the century. After peaking at ***** terawatt hours in 2005, consumption has fallen below *** terawatt hours in 2020. This is despite the UK's population growing by approximately seven million during this period. Projections on electricity consumption in the UK show that the decreasing trend will last until at least 2025.

The United Kingdom’s demand for electricity has been declining since 2005, standing at 318.65 terawatt-hours in 2024. Factors for this decrease include declining population growth in the country, energy efficiency regulations, energy-efficient lighting, and changing consumer habits. Domestic electricity consumption in the UK Households are the largest electricity end-users in the UK. In fact, domestic consumption is the only sector that registered year-over-year growth over the past few years, reaching 93 terawatt-hours in 2023. Nevertheless, the average domestic electricity consumption varied from region to region. Consumption was highest in the East, South East, and South West of England, each registering an average of more than 3,600 kilowatt-hours per household. Declining electricity generation in the UK Keeping up with the decline in demand, electricity generation in the UK has also been decreasing. In 2023, approximately 293 terawatt-hours were produced, the lowest output in at least three decades. Although electricity generation has been declining, renewable generation has increased significantly. As of 2023, renewables accounted for the largest electricity generation capacity in the UK, and that capacity is forecast to more than double by 2050. By 2025, the use of coal is expected to have been completely phased out.

The United Kingdom’s electricity use has been declining since peaking at *** terawatt-hours in 2005. In 2024, the UK's electricity increased on the previous year, amounting to *** terawatt-hours. Electricity consumption in the UK typically follows a seasonal trend, peaking in the winter months. How electricity-intensive is the UK? Despite the continual decline in electricity consumption, the UK remains one of the largest electricity consumers in the world. In terms of per capita electricity consumption, however, the UK ranks low in comparison to other European countries such as Norway, Germany, and France. In 2023, it registered an average of ***** kilowatt-hours per person. The race towards a clean power mix In 2010, gas and coal accounted for roughly ** percent of the UK's power mix. Since then, alongside the EU Renewables Directive, the UK agreed and created its own National Renewable Energy Plan, to increase the use of renewable sources and decrease its fossil fuel dependence. In the past decade, the share of energy consumption in the UK attributable to renewable energy increased slightly, although it was still a small percentage out of the total in 2023.

In the past decade, electricity consumption in the United Kingdom has been on the decline. Households have consistently ranked as the largest electricity final users in the country. In 2023, households in the UK consumed 93 terawatt-hours of electricity, or roughly 35 percent of the total consumption. Meanwhile, the industrial sector's consumption of electricity has fallen from 117 terawatt-hours in 2005 to 86 terawatt-hours in 2023.

Data showing the counts and average consumption of domestic energy consumption in Plymouth.

The UK's energy use by industry (SIC 2007 group - around 130 categories), source (for example, industrial and domestic combustion, aircraft, road transport and so on - around 80 categories) and fuel (for example, anthracite, peat, natural gas and so on - around 20 categories), 1990 to 2023.

The average annual domestic electricity bill in the United Kingdom saw an overall increase from 2014 to 2024 and boomed in 2023. In this period, households with an annual consumption of ***** kilowatt-hours saw bills rise from *** to ***** British pounds, including value-added tax. The household expenditure on electricity in the UK amounted to approximately **** billion current British pounds in 2023. Direct debit payments consistently cheaper In the period under consideration, the annual bill for an electricity consumption of ***** kilowatt-hours was consistently more expensive for consumers using standard credit as a method of payment, averaging ***** real British pounds in 2024. From 2016 onwards, consumers using the prepayment method paid less than standard credit consumers and, in 2022, their bill was the least expensive, at *** real British pounds. Electricity prices on the rise Household electricity prices in the UK have doubled in the past decade for both consumer groups. Despite the UK government setting a tariff cap to protect consumers, the UK’s power market was greatly impacted by the global energy crisis. In August 2022, electricity prices in Great Britain peaked at *** British pounds per megawatt-hour, over four times the price compared to August the following year.

Household electricity prices in the United Kingdom averaged 22.03 euro cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the first half of 2020. Over the past decade, household electricity prices have seen an overall increase, peaking at 22.10 euro cents per kWh in the second half of 2019. On average, the UK pays some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. Annual electricity billsIn 2019, the average annual domestic electricity bill for those with an electricity consumption of up to 3,800 kWh was 608 British pounds. In comparison, those with a consumption of 6,000 kWh paid 837 British pounds. Payment methods also affect electricity bills, with consumers who used prepayment paying the least. In 1970, the overall expenditure on electricity by all end users in the UK amounted to 1.5 billion British pounds. This increased significantly in the following decades and amounted to nearly 38 billion pounds by 2018.

Detailed household load and solar generation in minutely to hourly resolution. This data package contains measured time series data for several small businesses and residential households relevant for household- or low-voltage-level power system modeling. The data includes solar power generation as well as electricity consumption (load) in a resolution up to single device consumption. The starting point for the time series, as well as data quality, varies between households, with gaps spanning from a few minutes to entire days. All measurement devices provided cumulative energy consumption/generation over time. Hence overall energy consumption/generation is retained, in case of data gaps due to communication problems. Measurements were conducted 1-minute intervals, with all data made available in an interpolated, uniform and regular time interval. All data gaps are either interpolated linearly, or filled with data of prior days. Additionally, data in 15 and 60-minute resolution is provided for compatibility with other time series data. Data processing is conducted in Jupyter Notebooks/Python/pandas.

This statistic shows the expenditure on electricity by domestic end users in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1970 to 2018, in million British pounds. It shows that the expenditure on electricity increased significantly over this period, from 645 million British pounds in 1970 to approximately 17.8 billion British pounds in 2018. In the year 2000, the expenditure actually decreased when compared to 1995, but continued to increase in the following years.

United Kingdom Energy Consumption: Domestic: Electricity data was reported at 2,735.703 TOE th in Mar 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,576.114 TOE th for Dec 2017. United Kingdom Energy Consumption: Domestic: Electricity data is updated quarterly, averaging 2,568.355 TOE th from Mar 1998 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 81 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,221.598 TOE th in Mar 2006 and a record low of 1,819.379 TOE th in Sep 1998. United Kingdom Energy Consumption: Domestic: Electricity data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.RB006: Energy Consumption: by Industrial Consuming Group.