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 22.7 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 3.7 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 357.2 terawatt hours in 2005, consumption has fallen below 300 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 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.

The United Kingdom’s electricity use has been declining since peaking at 357 terawatt-hours in 2005. In 2023, the UK's electricity consumption fell to its lowest level this century, at 266 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 pales in comparison to other European countries such as Norway, Germany, and France. In 2022, it registered an average of 4,813 kilowatt-hours per person. The race towards a clean power mix In 2010, gas and coal accounted for roughly 75 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 2022.

United Kingdom UK: Electric Power Consumption: per Capita data was reported at 5,129.528 kWh in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5,409.630 kWh for 2013. United Kingdom UK: Electric Power Consumption: per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 5,082.440 kWh from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2014, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,270.984 kWh in 2005 and a record low of 2,412.137 kWh in 1960. United Kingdom UK: Electric Power Consumption: per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Electric power consumption measures the production of power plants and combined heat and power plants less transmission, distribution, and transformation losses and own use by heat and power plants.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

In February 2025, electricity prices in the United Kingdom amounted to 143.37 British pounds per megawatt-hour, an increase on the previous month. A record high was reached in August 2022 when day-ahead baseload contracts averaged 363.7 British pounds per megawatt-hour.
Electricity price stabilization in Europe Electricity prices increased in 2024 compared to the previous year, when prices stabilized after the energy supply shortage. Price spikes were driven by the growing wholesale prices of natural gas and coal worldwide, which are among the main sources of power in the region.

… and in the United Kingdom? The United Kingdom was one of the countries with the highest electricity prices worldwide during the energy crisis. Since then, prices have been stabilizing, almost to pre-energy crisis levels. The use of nuclear, wind, and bioenergy for electricity generation has been increasing recently. The fuel types are an alternative to fossil fuels and are part of the country's power generation plans going into the future.

The average annual domestic electricity bill in the United Kingdom saw an overall increase from 2010 to 2022 and boomed in 2023. In this period, households with an annual consumption of 5,100 kilowatt-hours saw bills rise from 539 to 1,152 British pounds, including value-added tax. The household expenditure on electricity in the UK amounted to approximately 26.3 billion current British pounds in 2022. Direct debit payments consistently cheaper In the period under consideration, the annual bill for an electricity consumption of 3,600 kilowatt-hours was consistently more expensive for consumers using standard credit as a method of payment, averaging 959 real British pounds in the latter year. From 2016 onwards, consumers using the prepayment method paid less than standard credit consumers and, in 2022, their bill was the least expensive, at 903 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, UK’s power market was greatly impacted by the global energy crisis. In the summer of 2022, electricity prices in Great Britain peaked at 363.7 British pounds per megawatt-hour.

This statistic shows annual electricity consumption per square metre in households in England in 2011. On average all households consumed 71 kilowatt-hours per square metre that year. Terraced houses with an end terrace used up the most electricity per square metre, at 81 kilowatt-hours, followed by flats and multiple person households with no dependent children (77 kilowatt-hours per square metre in each case).

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 2022.

Iceland is by far the largest per capita consumer of electricity worldwide, averaging 53.9 megawatt-hours per person in 2023. This results from a combination of factors, such as low-cost electricity production, increased heating demand, and the presence of energy-intensive industries in the country. Norway, Qatar, and Canada were also some of the world's largest electricity consumers per capita that year. China is the leading overall power consumer Power-intensive industries, the purchasing power of the average citizen, household size, and general power efficiency standards all contribute to the amount of electricity that is consumed per person every year. However, in terms of total electricity consumption, a country's size and population can also play an important role. In 2023, the three most populous countries in the world, namely China, the United States, and India, were also the three largest electricity consumers. Global electricity consumption on the rise In 2023, net electricity consumption worldwide amounted to over 27,000 terawatt-hours, an increase of 30 percent in comparison to a decade earlier. When compared to 1980, global electricity consumption more than tripled. On the generation side, the world is still strongly dependent on fossil fuels. Despite the world's renewable energy capacity quintupling in the last decade, coal and gas combined still accounted for almost 60 percent of global electricity generation in 2023.

United Kingdom UK: Electricity Production From Nuclear Sources: % of Total data was reported at 20.982 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 18.970 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Electricity Production From Nuclear Sources: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 18.418 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 28.108 % in 1997 and a record low of 1.603 % in 1960. United Kingdom UK: Electricity Production From Nuclear Sources: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Energy Production and Consumption. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Nuclear power refers to electricity produced by nuclear power plants.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

United Kingdom UK: Electricity Production From Natural Gas Sources: % of Total data was reported at 29.752 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 29.958 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Electricity Production From Natural Gas Sources: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 2.300 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 46.308 % in 2010 and a record low of 0.000 % in 1966. United Kingdom UK: Electricity Production From Natural Gas Sources: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Energy Production and Consumption. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Gas refers to natural gas but excludes natural gas liquids.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

Northern Ireland has the lowest average annual domestic standard electricity bills by prepayment in the United Kingdom. In 2023, this figure amounted to 771 British pounds. By comparison, England and Wales average electricity bills amounted to roughly 922 British pounds.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Smart Energy Research Lab (SERL) Observatory facilitates a broad range of energy demand research and is a unique data resource for research where access to high resolution, large scale energy data linked to relevant contextual data is required. Further information about SERL can be found on the Smart Energy Research Lab website.

This dataset of aggregated statistics is available under standard Safeguarded (End User Licence) access conditions. It contains over 2.5 million rows of data and describes domestic gas and electricity energy use in Great Britain 2020-2023 based on data from the Smart Energy Research Lab (SERL) Observatory, which consists of smart meter and contextual data from approximately 13,000 homes that are broadly representative of the GB population in terms of region and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile. This aggregated dataset can be used, for example, to show how residential energy use in GB varies over time (monthly over the year and half-hourly over the course of the day); and can be broken down by occupant characteristics (number of occupants, tenure), property characteristics (age, size, form, and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)), by type of heating system, presence of solar panels and of electric vehicles, and by weather, region and IMD quintile.

Secure Access data
A more detailed set of SERL data, including smart meter data and additional contextual data, is available under restricted Secure access conditions under SN 8666: Smart Energy Research Lab Observatory Data: Secure Access. It is a longitudinal dataset containing records from August 2019, with updates provided to researchers on a (roughly) quarterly basis. Users should download this safeguarded access statistical study first to see whether it is suitable for their needs before considering an application for the Secure dataset.

The second edition (May 2024) includes summaries of daily average energy use in a data file for 2020-2023, and summaries of half-hourly average energy use in four data files for 2020-2023, as well as an accompanying technical document.

Energy (electricity and gas) consumption in households across Great Britain.

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.

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.