1.1. Contact organisation
European Commission - Eurostat
1.2. Contact organisation unit
[4D1_E3] Eurostat - Transport and Energy
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
European Commission - Eurostat
Unit ESTAT.E.5: Energy
L-2920 Luxembourg
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
26 January 2023
2.1. Metadata last certified
29 January 2024
2.2. Metadata last posted
29 January 2024
2.3. Metadata last update
29 January 2024
The dependency of the EU on single providers has long been a topic of concern and a large component of energy security which tops the EU agenda. The EU has sought to improve energy security by building a resilient, interconnected and open internal market, while pursuing a multilateral and rule-based perspective. The current geopolitical events are highlighting the vital importance of controlling and decreasing import dependency. Energy dependence on imports of energy carriers exposes the European economy to volatile world market prices and the risk of supply shortages, for example, due to geopolitical conflicts. The risks increase with dependency on single countries e.g. determined by the supply infrastructure. There are several relevant EU policies for this indicator. The Energy Security Strategy outlines the need to enhance domestic energy production, including the need to increase local renewable energy production, energy efficiency and provide missing infrastructure.
The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy. SDG 7 calls for ensuring universal access to modern energy services, improving energy efficiency and increasing the share of renewable energy. To accelerate the transition to an affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy system, countries need to facilitate access to clean energy research, promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology.
4.1. Data description
Energy imports dependency shows the share of total energy needs of a country met by imports from other countries. The rate shows the proportion of energy that an economy must import. It is defined as net energy imports divided by gross available energy, expressed as a percentage. It can be defined for all products total as well as for individual fuels (for example: crude oil, natural gas). All data are from energy balances.
Energy dependence = (imports – exports) / gross available energy
A negative dependency rate indicates a net exporter of energy while a dependency rate in excess of 100 % indicates that energy products have been stocked.
By definition, all nuclear energy production counts as domestic production, regardless the origin of fuel for nuclear fission/fussion. In similar manner, all renewables and biofules count as domestic production, regardless the origin of feedstock (biomass or waste) from which it was produced.
Individual national data includes intra-EU trade. For EU aggregates, the net imports in principle cancel out all intra-EU trade (abstracting from statistical discrepancies in reported trade data: imports reported by country A from country B are not always exactly the same as exports by country B to country A).
4.2. Unit of measure
[PC] Percentage
4.3. Reference Period
The calendar year (January - December)
4.4. Accuracy - overall
The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistical System. While indirect indicators suggest overall accuracy of energy balance should be in general high, quantitative assessment of accuracy was not performed by Eurostat. Please see Related metadata for details on accuracy of the source datasets used to calculate this indicator.
4.5. Source data
4.5.1. Source data - Organisation
European Commission - Eurostat
4.5.2. Source data - Comment
Please see Related metadata for specific information on source data used to calculate this indicator.
5.1. Frequency of dissemination
5.1.1. Frequency of dissemination - Grade
Every year5.1.2. Frequency of dissemination - Comment
Revisions several time per year are possible.
5.2. Timeliness
5.2.1. Timeliness - Grade
T+2 years5.2.2. Timeliness - Comment
6.1. Reference area
6.1.1. Reference Area - Grade
All EU MS6.1.2. Reference Area - Comment
Data are presented for all EU Member States and several non-EU countries.
6.2. Comparability - geographical
6.2.1. Comparability - geographical - Grade
All EU MS6.2.2. Comparability - geographical - Comment
Data are comparable between all EU Member States and between other presented countries.
6.3. Coverage - Time
6.3.1. Time Coverage - Grade
> 10 years6.3.2. Time Coverage - Comment
All EU Member States have long time series; for some non-EU countries time series are shorter.
6.4. Comparability - over time
6.4.1. Comparability - over time - Grade
> 4 data points6.4.2. Comparability - over time - Comment
Comparability over time is ensured with a solid methodology harmonised on international level that is stable over long periods. Occasional breaks in time series are present due to the developments of statistical systems on national level and the level of detailed information (micro data) available at national level.
In general comparability is very high in last 10 years and for older periods slowly decreasing. In addition, introduction of new statistical information in the most recent data collections can lead to breaks in series until information is compiled and provided by reporting countries.
7.1. Dissemination format - Publications
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/publications
Paper publications have been abolished.
7.2. Dissemination format - online database
Dissemination is maintained on Eurostat's database:
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/energy/database
7.3. Dissemination format - other
Information not available. Redissemination of this indicator is not monitored.
No flags are used in this indicator, please refer to source datasets for all specificities and particularities.
This dataset is not dynamicaly linked to source data and consequently data revisions are not immediately applied.
