The percentage share of total metered electricity consumption used by data centres rose to 23% in 2025 up from 22% in 2024 and just 5% in 2015.
According to new figures from the Central Statistics Office, metered electricity consumption by data centres increased by 10% in a single year, rising from 6,973 Gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2024 to 7,663 GWh in 2025.
Consumption by all other users, including residential and other business customers, went up by 2% over the same period.
Quarterly tracking from 2015 to 2025 reveals that data centre electricity consumption grew from 291 GWh in the first quarter of 2015 to 1,991 GWh in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Total metered electricity consumption rose by 34% between 2015 and 2025.
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Large Energy Users, which includes significant data centres, accounted for the largest overall share of total consumption at 33% in 2025.
Their annual usage has risen 9% since 2024.
Total residential consumption of electricity, including both urban and rural dwellings, accounted for 28% of usage, compared with 23% by data centres.
It is estimated that the energy consumption level by data centres will grow to almost a third of the national electricity demand by 2030.
Figures on electricity use from the CSO
In January, the Government published a Large Energy Action Plan aimed at enabling the further development of energy-intensive facilities, including data centres.
It followed the lifting of an effective moratorium on new data centre connections.
In December, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities announced that data centres could be built where they meet at least 80% of their annual energy demand through new renewable electricity sources.
In May, a report into data centres from Friends of the Earth suggested that their electricity consumption may be resulting in higher energy costs for households.
It found the average household may have paid an estimated €360 in additional electricity costs between 2015-2023, due, it said, to the intensity of data centre presence on the grid.
CSO figures on annual electricity consumption
Last month, the Government published a report that it commissioned, at a cost of €100,000, in support of data centres.
It claimed that since 2010, €22 billion had been added to the Irish economy, an additional 17,000 jobs have been created, and €2.8 billion in tax has been collected because of data centres.