Household energy consumption for cooling in Europe has doubled between 2018 and 2024. This dramatic surge is likely to continue after Europe had its hottest June in history, with the soaring demand already driving electricity prices sharply higher.
In European Union households, energy consumption for cooling has steadily increased, reaching 80.4 thousand terajoules (TJ) in 2024, according to the latest data from Eurostat.
Final energy consumption is the total energy consumed by end users, such as households, industry and agriculture.
Between 2018 and 2024, consumption increased every year, except for 2023 and 2020
In 2018, EU households used 40.5 thousand TJ for space cooling, meaning that by 2024, total final energy consumption doubled, Eurostat added. Between 2018 and 2024, consumption increased every year, except for 2023 (-1.9%) and 2020 (-2.5%) which registered decreases compared with the previous years.
Among EU countries, Italy, Spain and Greece registered the highest total energy use for space cooling, with 26.3 thousand TJ, 14.3 thousand TJ and 11.9 thousand TJ, respectively.
Cyprus and Malta had by far the highest shares of energy used for space cooling in final household consumption, at 16% and 15%, respectively.
In Greece, 7.4% of household energy use was for cooling, while in Spain and Italy, the shares were lower at 2.5% and 2.3%, data showed.
June 2026 was the hottest June so far in western Europe
These figures are expected to climb even higher following a summer of unprecedented heat.
June 2026 was the hottest June so far in western Europe and the second-warmest globally, according to reports from Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The heatwave that hit much of Europe during the second half of June came only a few weeks after a particularly intense heatwave in May.
As a direct result of the scorching temperatures, electricity prices surged in late June.
For example, on June 29, Romania and Hungary had the most expensive electricity in Europe. The demand for cooling has cut into the record solar power output, while the reduction in nuclear and gas capacities tightened the supply side.
