In 2023, transport activities accounted for 32% of the final energy consumption in the EU, slightly up from 31% in 2022. This made transport activities the highest consumer of final energy, ahead of households (26%) and industry (25%).
Road transport was the largest energy consumer, responsible for 73% of all energy consumption in transport, or 10 974 petajoules (PJ). Air transport accounted for 13% of all energy consumed in transport (1 866 PJ), followed by water transport (1 810 PJ; 12%) and rail transport (217 PJ; 1%).Â
Air transport recorded the highest increase in energy consumption among all transport subsectors (+10%) compared with 2022. Energy consumption levels in air transport in 2023 approached the pre-pandemic figures, following sharp declines in 2020 and 2021.Â
Source dataset: nrg_bal_cÂ
Gas/diesel oil and motor gasoline: leading energy sources in road transport
In 2023, gas/diesel oil (excluding the biofuel portion) was the main source of energy in road transport in the EU, with a 64% share. Motor gasoline (excluding the biofuel portion) followed at 26%, ahead of renewables and biofuels (7%), liquefied petroleum gases (2%), natural gas (0.8%) and electricity (0.5%).
Looking at the EU countries, gas/diesel oil was the primary source of energy for road transport, though there were noticeable differences between the countries. The highest shares were reported in Latvia (80%), Lithuania and Croatia (both 75%). By contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Sweden (43%), the Netherlands (45%) and Cyprus (46%).
The share of motor gasoline was highest in Cyprus (51%), the Netherlands (45%) and Malta (37%). Lithuania (14%), Latvia and Bulgaria (both 15%) registered the lowest shares.
Source dataset: nrg_d_traq
The share of electricity consumption in road transport increased by 46% from 2022 to 2023, but still represented only 0.5% of total road transport. The largest share was in Sweden and the Netherlands (both 2.1%) and Denmark (1.1%).