Since mid-March 2020, EU Member States have taken restrictive measures to slow down the spread of COVID-19. These measures included the closure of factories, schools, restaurants, bars and hotels, and required people to stay at home. Many companies lowered production levels due to a lack of demand or because of interruption to their supply chain. These measures were in full force for the entire month of April 2020. By the end of May and continuing into June, many countries started to partially remove restrictions and the tourism season began.
However, June data show a lower electricity consumption in most Member States. The total EU electricity consumption in June 2020 was 7.6% lower than the lowest June value recorded between 2016 and 2019.
Source dataset: nrg_cb_em
When compared with the lowest June level since 2016, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Slovenia show a decrease of more than 10%. As tourism is an important sector for the majority of these countries, it is probable that a reduction in the number of tourists led to a decrease in electricity consumption. The tourism sector has seen a major decline due to countries issuing travel warnings and imposing quarantine measures. This can be seen in the tourism data for June (tour_occ_nim).
Seven Member States (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal and Finland) show a reduction in electricity consumption of 5% to 10%, while for eight Member States the drop was between 1% and 5% (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia). In Latvia and Lituania, the situation remained stable (up to +1%) and the remaining countries (Estonia, Ireland, Malta and Sweden) reported an increase in electricity consumption compared with the lowest June level.
Although Denmark and Bulgaria show increasing electricity consumption from March to May 2020, in June both recorded a reduction in electricity consumption compared with the lowest reference month between 2016 and 2019.
Notes: When comparing June with May 2020 data an ‘improvement’ or ‘worsening’ in some Member States may be shown. However, each country has its own consumption patterns. In some countries ‘normal’ electricity consumption in June is always higher than in May (such as Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, Hungary and Malta, probably because the tourism season starts and temperatures require air conditioning). In others, it is the opposite and consumption diminishes from May to June (such as Finland, Sweden, France and Ireland, probably because heating is no longer required and the holiday season starts in June). When interpreting May versus June data, these patterns should be taken into account.
Source data for the EU and EU Member States:
Electricity consumption, January to June 2016 - 2020
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