Energy
The EU uses less than half as much energy per person as the US, and China has now overtaken it. Its electricity relies far less on fossil fuels, but renewables cover only a quarter of all its energy, and industry pays considerably more for power than before the 2022 crisis.
Between two giants
An American uses more than twice as much energy as a European, and the average person in China has now overtaken the average European.
In 2024, each person in the EU used 2,768 kilograms of oil equivalent in primary energy. In the US, 6,454, 2.3 times as much. China has gone from 898 kilograms in 2000 to 2,947 in 2024, 3.3 times as much, and has been ahead of the EU since 2023. Europe and the US use less than at the turn of the century: 19.2% less per person in the EU and 19.9% less in the US. Within the EU, 17 of the 27 countries now use less energy per person than China.
A person in China now uses more energy than one in the EU; a person in the US, 2.3 times as much
Primary energy use per person, in kilograms of oil equivalent
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The clearest difference is in electricity. In 2024, 27.8% of the electricity produced in the EU came from fossil fuels; in the US, 58.3%, and in China, 61.6%. Coal generates 10.5% of Europe's electricity, down from 31.8% in 2000; in China it is still 58.6%. The US has also moved away from coal (from 52.5% to 15.7%), but has replaced it mainly with gas, which now provides 42% of its electricity. The EU relies on nuclear (23%) and on wind, solar and other sources, which have risen from 2.6% to 35%.
In the EU, 27.8% of electricity comes from fossil fuels; in the US, 58.3%, and in China, 61.6%
Electricity production by source, as % of the total
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Is Europe losing, or choosing?
The EU has chosen renewables. In electricity it is moving fast; elsewhere, less so. And industry pays far more for power than before the crisis.
In 2024, renewables covered 25.2% of the EU's final energy consumption, up from 9.6% in 2004. In electricity they have reached 47.5%; in heating and cooling, 26.7%, and in transport, just 11.2%. The 2030 target is 42.5%. To reach it, the EU would need to add almost three points a year until 2030; between 2019 and 2024 it added just over one a year on average.
Renewables now cover 47.5% of the electricity the EU consumes, but only 25.2% of all its energy
Share of the EU's gross final energy consumption covered by renewables, across all energy and in each use, in %
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The other side is price. Between 2007 and 2020, electricity for European industry never cost more than 10.72 cents per kWh, excluding VAT and recoverable taxes. With the energy crisis, it reached 20.16 cents in the second half of 2022. In the second half of 2025 it stood at 15.96: 20.8% below that peak, but 45.8% above the first half of 2021. Excluding taxes, the rise is 80.6%. There is no open series that allows this price to be compared with the US and China using the same method.
Electricity for EU industry costs 45.8% more than in early 2021, but 20.8% less than at its peak in late 2022
Average electricity price for industry in the EU, in euro cents per kWh
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Europe from within
Across the 27, the share of renewables ranges from almost two thirds to one seventh, and the price of electricity for industry varies by a factor of 3.5.
Five countries already exceed the 42.5% renewables share the EU has set for 2030: Sweden (62.9%), Finland (52.1%), Denmark (46.5%), Latvia (45.5%) and Austria (43%). At the other end are Belgium (14.3%), Luxembourg (14.7%) and Ireland (16.1%). Spain, at 25.4%, is practically at the EU average (25.2%), up from 8.3% in 2004. Between 2014 and 2024, Denmark made the most progress (17.2 points); Croatia is the only country that went backwards.
Sweden covers 62.9% of its energy consumption with renewables; Belgium, 14.3%
Renewable energy, as % of gross final energy consumption
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As note N04 showed for household electricity, power prices vary widely from country to country. For industry, in the second half of 2025 they ranged from 6.74 cents per kWh in Finland and 8.52 in Sweden to 23.66 in Cyprus and 21.87 in Ireland. In Germany, 19.22. Since the first half of 2021 they have risen in all 27 countries: in Hungary by 119.9%, more than doubling; in Malta by just 0.9%. Spain is the fourth cheapest country, at 11.91 cents, 35.8% more than in 2021. European households pay 31.5% more for electricity than then; industry, 45.8% more.
Since 2021, electricity for industry has become more expensive in all 27 countries; in Cyprus it costs 3.5 times as much as in Finland
Electricity price for industry, excluding VAT and recoverable taxes, first half of 2021 and second half of 2025, in euro cents per kWh
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Notes on this theme
Other themes
- AI and digitalThe EU is adopting artificial intelligence faster than ever, but almost all the technology it uses is designed elsewhere.
- Trade and dependenciesFor decades the EU was the world's largest trading power. China has overtaken it, and Europe increasingly depends on others to buy and to sell.
- Productivity and growthThe EU weighs as much in the world economy as the United States, but it produces less per hour and much less per person. The question is how much of that gap is lagging behind and how much is choice.
- Freedoms, well-being and climateEurope lives longer, pollutes less and protects freedoms more than the United States or China. But those advantages are not equal across its countries, and some are eroding.
- HealthThe EU spends far less on health than the US, and people live longer. Most of it is paid with public money, but each country differs in how many doctors it has and how much patients pay themselves.
- Money and paymentsThe euro area holds more cash relative to its economy than the US and China, but uses it less and less to pay. Cards are filling the gap, largely through non-European networks. The digital euro is the EU's bet to keep public money present in electronic payments.
- Housing and the cost of livingHousing has risen less in the euro area than in the US, and so have rents. Almost seven in ten Europeans live in a home they own, but those renting at market prices bear far higher costs, and the gaps between countries in cost and space are huge.