2.3 From where do we import energy and how dependent are we?
What do we import?
For its own consumption, the EU also needs energy which is imported from third countries. In 2018, the main imported energy product was petroleum products (including crude oil, which is the main component), accounting for almost two thirds of energy imports into the EU, followed by gas (24 %) and solid fossil fuels (8 %).
Russia is the main EU supplier of crude oil, natural gas and solid fossil fuels
The stability of the EU’s energy supply may be threatened if a high proportion of imports are concentrated among relatively few external partners. In 2018, almost two thirds of the extra-EU's crude oil imports came from Russia (30 %), Iraq (9 %) and Saudi Arabia, Norway, Kazakhstan and Nigeria (7 % each). A similar analysis shows that almost three quarters of the EU's imports of natural gas came from Russia (40 %), Norway (18 %) and Algeria (11 %), while almost three quarters of solid fuel (mostly coal) imports originated from Russia (42 %), the United States (18 %) and Colombia (13 %).
Different patterns among the EU Member States
More than 80 % of energy imports are petroleum products in Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Sweden and Romania and more than a third is gas in Hungary, Austria and Italy. Around 20 % of energy imports are solid fuels in Slovakia and Poland.
How dependent are we from energy produced outside the EU?
The dependency rate shows the extent to which an economy relies upon imports in order to meet its energy needs. It is measured by the share of net imports (imports - exports) in gross inland energy consumption (meaning the sum of energy produced and net imports). In the EU in 2018, the dependency rate was equal to 58 %, which means that more than half of the EU’s energy needs were met by net imports. This rate ranges from over 90 % in Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus to below 25 % in Romania, Denmark and Estonia. The dependency rate on energy imports has increased since 2000, when it was just 56 %.
As mentioned in the part dealing with energy imports, the EU mainly depends on Russia for imports of crude oil, natural gas and solid fuels, followed by Norway for crude oil and natural gas.
Have a look at the interactive visualisation tool on trade on energy products on the right hand side to discover who are the main trading partners of your country and visualise the trade flows in different ways.
