The United Kingdom’s demand for electricity has been declining since 2005, standing at 316.52 terawatt-hours in 2023. Some factors for this decreasing are 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 roughly 100 terawatt-hours in 2022. 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.
Primary energy consumption in the United Kingdom amounted to roughly seven exajoules in 2023. Overall, oil and natural gas were by far the most consumed fuels in the country. By comparison, consumption of primary energy from renewables stood at 1.38 exajoules that year, up from 1.36 the year prior.
Energy production and consumption statistics are provided in total and by fuel and provide an analysis of the latest 3 months data compared to the same period a year earlier. Energy price statistics cover domestic price indices, prices of road fuels and petroleum products and comparisons of international road fuel prices.
Highlights for the 3 month period June 2021 to August 2021, compared to the same period a year earlier include:
*Major Power Producers (MPPs) data published monthly, all generating companies data published quarterly.
Highlights for October 2021 compared to September 2021:
Lead statistician Warren Evans, Tel 0300 068 5059
Press enquiries, Tel 020 7215 1000
Statistics on monthly production and consumption of coal, electricity, gas, oil and total energy include data for the UK for the period up to the end of August 2021.
Statistics on average temperatures, wind speeds, sun hours and rainfall include data for the UK for the period up to the end of September 2021.
Statistics on energy prices include retail price data for the UK for September 2021, and petrol & diesel data for October 2021, with EU comparative data for September 2021.
The next release of provisional monthly energy statistics will take place on Thursday 25 November 2021.
To access the data tables associated with this release please click on the relevant subject link(s) below. For further information please use the contact details provided.
Please note that the links below will always direct you to the latest data tables. If you are interested in historical data tables please contact BEIS (kevin.harris@beis.gov.uk)
Subject and table number | Energy production and consumption, and weather data |
---|---|
Total Energy | Contact: Energy statistics, Tel: 0300 068 5041 |
ET 1.1 | Indigenous production of primary fuels |
ET 1.2 | Inland energy consumption: primary fuel input basis |
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Historical electricity data series updated annually in July alongside the publication of the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES).
MS Excel Spreadsheet, 240 KB
This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Request an accessible format.Reports on performance against the Programme for Government target to “Encourage achievement of 20% of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2015” and the Executive’s Strategic Energy Framework target to achieve 40% of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
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.
Load, wind and solar, prices in hourly resolution. This data package contains different kinds of timeseries data relevant for power system modelling, namely electricity prices, electricity consumption (load) as well as wind and solar power generation and capacities. The data is aggregated either by country, control area or bidding zone. Geographical coverage includes the EU and some neighbouring countries. All variables are provided in hourly resolution. Where original data is available in higher resolution (half-hourly or quarter-hourly), it is provided in separate files. This package version only contains data provided by TSOs and power exchanges via ENTSO-E Transparency, covering the period 2015-mid 2020. See previous versions for historical data from a broader range of sources. All data processing is conducted in Python/pandas and has been documented in the Jupyter notebooks linked below.
March 2022: Revised tables have been published to correct for a processing error. This affected estimates of industrial consumption by 2 digit SIC code (Table C3) and industrial end use by 2 digit SIC code (Tables U2 and U4).
July 2022: Revised tables have been published to correct for a processing error. This affected estimates of oil products consumption in the vehicles manufacturing sector and natural gas consumption in the paper and printing sector (Table C3), and bioenergy and waste consumption for heating in the domestic sector (Table U3).
You can use this https://beis2.shinyapps.io/ecuk/" class="govuk-link">dashboard to interact with and visualise energy consumption in the UK (ECUK) data. You can filter the data according to your area of interest.
Please email energy.stats@beis.gov.uk if you have any feedback or comments on the dashboard.
The gross amount of energy consumed for heating and cooling purposes in the United Kingdom decreased significantly over this period, from approximately 64.6 million metric tons of oil equivalent in 2010 to 52.7 million metric tons of oil equivalent in 2020.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
Key information about European Union Electricity Production
This report presents statistics on the metered electricity and gas consumption of non-domestic buildings in England and Wales for 2016 to 2018, with analysis by building use, occupying business size and building size.
It also presents statistics about the ND-NEED non-domestic building stock in England and Wales, by building use and building size.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
This dataset was used in the Western Power Distribution Presumed Open Data competition in 2021.
The data is provided under the Western Power Distribution Open Data Licence.
There are five files:
pv_train_set4.csv - contains solar panel data - an irradiance, power output and solar panel temperature for each half-hour from 3rd November 2017 through 2nd July 2020.
weather_train_set4.csv - contains hourly reanalysis temperature and solar radiation at 6 weather stations near the solar panels (near Plymouth, UK).
demand_train_set4.csv - contains half-hourly electricity demand data from a substation near Plymouth, UK, running from 3rd November 2017 through 2nd July 2020.
pv_test_set4.csv - contains an extra week of data to pv_train_set4.csv, running from 3rd July 2020 through 9th July 2020.
demand_test_set4.csv - contains an extra week of data to demand_train_set4.csv, running from 3rd July 2020 through 9th July 2020.
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The UK's renewable energy sector, including green power and sustainable energy, is set to grow significantly due to supportive government policies and a shift away from fossil fuels. Despite potential setbacks from policy changes like increased VAT on clean energy technologies and cessation of solar subsidies, the ambitious 2030 alternative energy targets offer vast opportunities for eco-friendly energy companies. The natural energy market is segmented into wind, solar, hydro, bioenergy, and others, with wind energy predicted to dominate. The low-carbon energy sector features key players like Vestas Wind Systems AS and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
Electricity generated by renewables as a percentage of gross consumption 2000 - 2020
An overview of the trends identified for the previous quarter in the UK’s renewables sector, focusing on:
We publish this document on the last Thursday of each calendar quarter (March, June, September and December).
These tables focus on renewable electricity capacity and generation, and liquid biofuels consumption.
We publish these quarterly tables on the last Thursday of each calendar quarter (March, June, September and December). The data is a quarter in arrears.
This data relates to certificates and generation associated with the renewables obligation scheme.
We publish this monthly table on the second Thursday of each month.
Previous editions of Energy Trends are available on the Energy Trends collection page.
You can request previous editions of the tables by using the email below in Contact us.
If you have questions about these statistics, please email: renewablesstatistics@energysecurity.gov.uk
This publication reflects performance against the 2011-15 Programme for Government target which was to “Encourage achievement of 20 per cent of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2015” and the Executive’s 2010-20 Strategic Energy Framework which includes a target to achieve 40 per cent of electricity consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
The United Kingdom’s demand for electricity has been declining since 2005, standing at 316.52 terawatt-hours in 2023. Some factors for this decreasing are 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 roughly 100 terawatt-hours in 2022. 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.