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Data extracted in September 2024

Planned article update: 18 September 2025

Highlights

In 2022, transport activities accounted for 31.0% of final energy consumption in the EU.

In 2022, road transport accounted for 73.6 % of all energy consumed in transport in the EU, far ahead of air transport (11.4 %), water transport (13.0 %) and rail transport (1.4 %).

In 2022, motor gasoline and gas/diesel oil added together made up 90.6 % of the energy consumption in road transport in the EU, far ahead of renewables and biofuels at 6.4 %.

Energy-consumption-transport-1990-2022.jpg

In the European Union (EU) in 2022, the transport sector accounted for 31.0 % of final energy consumption, the highest share of final energy consumption ahead of households (26.9%), industry (25.1%) and services (13.4%). This article presents data on final energy consumption in transport in the EU, broken down by mode of transport and fuel used to power transport activities, for the year 2022.[1]

Transport activities are indispensable for our economy and daily lives. They facilitate the movement of goods and people, underpin economic activities and significantly contribute to the quality of life, while also representing risks. They have been a cornerstone of economic development, driving trade and fostering connectivity between regions. Large-scale changes within transport have far-reaching implications for individuals and businesses.

In the context of this article, “transport” covers the “energy used in all transport activities irrespective of the NACE category (economic sector) in which the activity occurs”. On top of covering the main sub-sectors of transportation (in NACE Section H), “transport activities” also cover transportation connected to households as well as transportation within business categories in the industry and services sectors. For a concrete example, the consumption of a household’s private car would be covered in transport. The term energy product refers to primary and secondary fuels or fuel groups such as petroleum products, natural gas, electricity, renewables, etc.[2] In this article, biofuels are excluded from oil and petroleum products; as such, products like gas oil and diesel oil (henceforth referred to as gas/diesel oil) or motor gasoline do not include their biofuel portion.

Road transport

Road transport is the largest energy consumer among all transport activities in the EU, responsible for 73.6% of all energy consumption in transport. Final energy consumption in road transport steadily increased from 1990 until 2007, where it reached a peak of 11 322 PJ[3], an increase of 34.1% compared with 1990. The financial crisis in 2008 had a considerable impact on the economy and, as such, on road transport, which decreased until 2013. From 2014 onwards, energy consumption in road transport started to increase again due to the growing economy and low fuel prices. In 2019, consumption almost reached the level recorded in 2008 but then decreased again due to COVID-19 restrictions. After the restrictions were lifted, consumption in road transport increased once more, and the reported EU consumption in 2022 was 97.4% of the pre-COVID-19 level of 2019.

a line chart with six lines showing the Evolution of final energy consumption in road transport by energy product in the EU from 1990 to 2022. The lines show motor gasoline excluding its biofuel portion, gas oil and diesel oil excluding its biofuel portion, renewables and biofuels, natural gas, electricity and liquefied petroleum gases.
Figure 1: Evolution of final energy consumption in road transport by energy product, EU, 1990-2022 (PJ)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

As seen in Figure 1, in 2022, 65.4% of final consumption in road transport was fuelled by gas/diesel oil. Motor gasoline was responsible for 25.2%, renewables and biofuels for 6.4%, liquified petroleum gases for 2.0%, natural gas for 0.7%, and electricity for 0.3%. The use of energy products in road transport has changed considerably over the years. In 1990, the main energy source in road transport was motor gasoline at 54.7%, followed by gas/diesel oil at 43.8%. Natural gas accounted for 0.1%, and renewables and biofuels, as well as electricity, were marginal. From 1990 until 2017, there was a steady shift from the use of motor gasoline to gas/diesel oil. Only in recent years has motor gasoline started to gain ground once again. Renewables and biofuels began to increase in 2004, with a steep increase until 2012; it stabilised around 6.5% in the last three years. The use of electricity in road transport is almost marginal but has shown a visible increase from 2018 to 2022, with final consumption increasing from 0.05% in 2018 to 0.34% in 2022, a more than six-fold increase.

a vertical bar chart showing the Final energy consumption in road transport by energy product per country in petajoules in individual EU countries, Norway and three candidate countries. Each country column has six stacks representing types of fuel for the year 2022, namely, gas oil and diesel oil excluding its biofuel portion, motor gasoline excluding its biofuel portion, renewables and biofuels, natural gas, electricity and liquefied petroleum gases.
Figure 2: Final energy consumption in road transport by energy product per country, 2022 (PJ)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_d_traq)


a vertical bar chart showing the Final energy consumption in road transport by energy product per country in petajoules in individual EU countries, Norway and three candidate countries, excluding Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Each country column has six stacks representing types of fuel for the year 2022, namely, gas oil and diesel oil excluding its biofuel portion, motor gasoline excluding its biofuel portion, renewables and biofuels, natural gas, electricity and liquefied petroleum gases.
Figure 2bis: Final energy consumption in road transport by energy product per country (excluding Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland), 2022 (PJ)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_d_traq)

In most European countries, gas/diesel oil was the main source of energy in road transport in 2022, but there were visible differences between countries. The highest shares of gas/diesel oil use in the EU were reported in Latvia (80.1%), Lithuania (76.1%) and Ireland (74.1%). The lowest shares of this fuel in road transport were reported in Sweden (45.0%), Cyprus (45.9%) and the Netherlands (48.1%). Motor gasoline had an even higher variability between countries. The highest shares of motor gasoline use in road transport were reported in Cyprus (50.4%), the Netherlands (41.9%), and Malta (36.3%). The lowest shares of this fuel in road transport were reported in Lithuania (12.8%), Latvia (14.3%) and Bulgaria (15.4%).

The use of renewables and biofuels in road transport was also very diverse between countries. In 2022, their highest shares in the EU were reported in Sweden (24.6%), Belgium (10.4%) and Luxembourg (8.5%). Outside the EU, Albania (25.6%) and Norway (10.8%) also used a significant quantity of renewables in road transport. The lowest shares of renewables and biofuels in the EU were observed in Croatia (1.0%), Latvia (1.5%) and Spain (3.5%). Liquefied petroleum gas was used in road transport in most EU countries, but with shares close to 1% or lower in most cases. Only 5 EU countries reported a higher consumption of liquefied petroleum gas in road transport: Bulgaria (13.2%), Poland (8.6%), Italy (4.9%), Lithuania (4.5%) and Latvia (3.6%).

The use of electricity in road transport in 2022 was marginal. Only 3 countries had a share higher than 1%: in the EU, the Netherlands and Sweden (both 1.6%), outside the EU in Norway (5.1%).

Stacked vertical bar chart showing Final energy consumption in road transport by category as percentages in individual EU countries, Norway and three candidate countries. Totalling one hundred percent, each country column has four stacks representing cars and vans, heavy-duty vehicles carrying freight, collective transport and other road transport.
Figure 3: Final energy consumption in road transport by category, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_d_traq)

Figure 3 presents final energy consumption in road transport, split by category of vehicle. The largest category in almost all countries in 2022 was cars and vans, which carry goods or passengers with a maximum mass of 3.5 metric tons. The respective highest shares of cars and vans in the energy consumption in road transport in the EU were found in Malta (90.1%), Cyprus (87.0%) and Germany (86.1%). By contrast, Latvia (44.0%), Romania (52.0%) and Ireland (56.6%) had the lowest shares of cars and vans in road transport.

Final energy consumption by heavy-duty vehicles, defined as lorries whose maximum capacity is over 3.5 t and carrying freight, was higher than the one by cars and vans in only 1 EU country: Latvia, with a share of 49.5%. Countries with the highest consumption by cars and vans displayed the lowest consumption by heavy-duty vehicles: Malta (5.5%), Lithuania (6.9%), Cyprus (7.7%), and Germany (9.5%).

Compared with cars and vans and heavy-duty vehicles, collective transport displayed both lower levels and lower shares in energy consumption in road transport in 2022. In the EU, the largest shares of energy consumption in road transport by collective transport were observed in Czechia (8.0%), Lithuania (7.1%) and Romania (7.0%). In most countries, collective transport’s share of energy consumption in road transport was below 5%, with the lowest shares observed in the Netherlands (1.4%), Austria, Slovenia and Poland (all at 1.7%).

A table showing Final energy consumption by energy product as % of total per each road transport category for the EU excluding Greece and Finland. The seven lines show the products, respectively gas oil and diesel oil excluding its biofuel portion, motor gasoline excluding its biofuel portion, liquefied petroleum gases, blended biodiesels, blended biogasoline, pure biodiesels, pure biogasoline, natural gas and electricity. The four columns show the categories, namely cars and vans, heavy-duty vehicles carrying freight, collective transport and other road transport.
Table 1: Final energy consumption in road transport by energy product per category, EU, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_d_traq)

Table 1 presents final energy consumption in road transport by energy product per category in 2022: the EU aggregate in Table 1 is the sum of the 27 EU countries, excluding Greece and Finland. The use of energy products varied significantly between the different transport categories. Heavy-duty vehicles mostly used gas/diesel oil (90.7%), blended biodiesels (6.5%) and relatively small amounts of natural gas (1.5%). Collective transport, which is also heavy in nature, also used gas/diesel oil (85.0%) and blended biodiesels (6.1%) but stood out with a higher consumption of natural gas (6.1%). In many EU countries, collective transport is more common in populated areas, which encourages the use of natural gas as a less polluting option. For cars and vans, being smaller vehicles, gas/diesel oil remained the main energy source (58.7%), followed by motor gasoline (31.8%), with blended biodiesels (4.2%), liquefied petroleum gases (2.7%) and blended biogasoline (1.6%) as more marginal fuels.

Air transport

In 2022, air transport was responsible for 11.4% of final energy consumption in transport activities. From 1990 until 2019, the energy consumption in air transport more than doubled, increasing from 972.1 PJ to 2 022.0 PJ, an increase of 108.0%. In 2020, air transport was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with final energy consumption dropping to 882.1 PJ, a 56.4% decrease compared with 2019. In 2021, consumption increased to 1 080.3 PJ, and in 2022, the energy consumption had nearly doubled compared with 2020 with a 92.7% increase to 1 699.7 PJ, but still below pre-COVID-19 levels.

a line chart with two lines showing the Evolution of final energy consumption in air transport by category in the EU from 1990 to 2022. The lines show international aviation and domestic aviation.
Figure 4: Evolution of final energy consumption in air transport by category, EU, 1990-2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

As seen in Figure 4, international aviation had a much higher final energy consumption than domestic aviation. In 1990, international aviation was responsible for 78.5% of final energy consumption in air transport. This ratio grew to 85.3% in 2022. The financial crisis in 2008 had a negative impact on international and domestic flights (with, respectively, an 8.4% and 9.4% decrease in energy consumption between 2008 and 2009). The COVID-19 pandemic had a considerably higher impact on air transport, with the energy consumption of international flights decreasing by 56.8% and the one of domestic flights decreasing by 53.4% between 2019 and 2020.

two pie charts showing Final energy consumption in domestic air transport by energy product in the EU. The left pie chart shows the year 1990, the right pie chart shows the year 2022. The pie charts show kerosene-type jet fuel excluding its biofuel portion, gasoline-type jet fuel, aviation gasoline, gasoline-type jet fuel and blended bio jet kerosene.
Figure 5: Final energy consumption in domestic air transport by energy product, EU, 1990 and 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

Domestic air transport has seen a shift in the types of energy products used. In 1990, kerosene-type jet fuel accounted for 81.4% of consumption, while gasoline-type jet fuel accounted for 15.8%. The use of gasoline-type jet fuel decreased over the years and it was no longer used in domestic air transport by 2009. The use of aviation gasoline dropped from 2.8% in 1990 to 0.8% in 2022. Aviation gasoline is still used today for a few domestic flights operating small aircraft equipped with piston engines.

A table showing Final energy consumption in international air transport by energy product in the EU. The four lines show the products, respectively kerosene-type jet fuel excluding its biofuel portion, aviation gasoline, blended bio jet kerosene and gasoline-type jet fuel. The two columns show the years, namely 1990 and 2022.
Table 2: Final energy consumption in international air transport by energy product, EU, 1990 and 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

International aviation is predominantly powered by kerosene-type jet fuel, which accounted for more than 99.7% of consumption since 1990. In 1990, a small amount of aviation gasoline was used, but those smaller planes are no longer in use in international aviation. In 2022, for the first time, the use of blended bio jet kerosene was reported, accounting for 0.13% of final consumption. This value is expected to increase in the coming years.

Water transport

In 2022, water transport accounted for 13.0% of final energy consumption in all transport activities. As seen in Figure 1, the trends of energy consumption in water transport are similar to the ones in air transport, but much less volatile. Energy consumption in water transport increased from 1990 until 2007, mirroring trends in air transport. However, the 2008 financial crisis had a more significant impact on water transport. The highest recorded final energy consumption was in 2007 at 2 430.1 PJ. Afterwards, it decreased to 1 822.0 PJ in 2015. The COVID-19 pandemic had a very limited effect on water transport, with final energy consumption dropping by 10.0% between 2019 and 2020 (compared with more than 50% in air transport).

a stacked area chart showing the Evolution of final energy consumption in water transport by category in the EU from 1990 to 2022. The chart presents two stacks, one for international navigation and one for domestic navigation.
Figure 6: Evolution of final energy consumption in water transport by category, EU, 1990-2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

International water transport is primarily powered by fuel oil. In 1990, fuel oil accounted for 77.5% of total energy consumption. By 2022, this had dropped to 71.5%. Part of the fuel oil was replaced by a higher use of gas/diesel oil, with its share increasing from 21.7% to 26.8%. Additionally, there has been a small shift towards fuels outside of oil: blended biodiesels started being used in 2011 (share of 1.0% in 2022), and natural gas in 2013 (share of 0.4% in 2022).

two pie charts showing Final energy consumption in international water transport by energy product in the EU. The left pie chart shows the year 1990, the right pie chart shows the year 2022. The pie charts show fuel oil, gas oil and diesel oil excluding its biofuel portion, lubricants, motor gasoline excluding its biofuel portion, blended biodiesels and natural gas.
Figure 7: Final energy consumption in international water transport by energy product, EU, 1990 and 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

Domestic water transport uses very different energy products than international water transport. Domestic transport is serviced by smaller ships running on gas/diesel oil and motor gasoline. In 1990, 64.6% of final energy consumption in domestic water transport was attributed to gas/diesel oil, while fuel oil, the main energy product in international transport, accounted for 25.3%. Over the years, there has been a small shift towards fuel oil; in 2022, the use of fuel oil increased to 30.0%, and the use of gas/diesel oil dropped to 59.8%. The use of motor gasoline remained almost unchanged, decreasing slightly from 10.0% to 9.9% between 1990 and 2022. In 2022, there was also a small use of blended biodiesels at 0.3%.

two pie charts showing Final energy consumption in domestic water transport by energy product in the EU. The left pie chart shows the year 1990, the right pie chart shows the year 2022. The pie charts show fuel oil, gas oil and diesel oil excluding its biofuel portion, motor gasoline excluding its biofuel portion, lubricants, other kerosene and blended biodiesels.
Figure 8: Final energy consumption in domestic water transport by energy product, EU, 1990 and 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

Rail transport

Final energy consumption in rail transport is very small compared with road, air, and water transport. In 2022, rail transport accounted for only 1.4% of the total energy used in transport activities. Notably, this is the only transport category where final energy consumption decreased in 2022 compared with 1990. The reduction was substantial, at 31.5%.

a line chart with five lines showing the Evolution of final energy consumption in rail transport by energy product in the EU from 1990 to 2022. The lines show electricity, gas oil and diesel oil excluding its biofuel portion, other oil and petroleum products, solid fossil fuels and renewables and biofuels.
Figure 9: Evolution of final energy consumption in rail transport by energy product, EU, 1990-2022 (PJ)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_c)

Electricity is the primary source of energy in rail transport. In 2022, the share of electricity in the energy consumption in rail transport was 78.9%, compared with 52.4% in 1990. Although the share of electricity in the fuel mix rose significantly from 1990 to 2022, the overall final consumption of electricity in rail transport remained nearly unchanged, with a slight increase of 3.1% in 2022 compared with 1990. The growing share of electricity is primarily due to the reduced use of gas/diesel oil. In 1990, this accounted for 44.8% of the fuel mix, but this dropped to 20.4% in 2022, reflecting a 68.8% decrease. Other fuels play a minimal role in rail transport; solid fossil fuels, which were used in the early 1990s, now have a symbolic presence at 0.01%. Recently, the use of biofuels has increased, and in 2022, biofuels accounted for 0.7% of final energy consumption.

Stacked vertical bar chart showing Final electricity consumption in rail transport by category as percentages in individual EU countries, Norway and two candidate countries. Totalling one hundred percent, each country column has four stacks representing passenger conventional rail, freight conventional rail, high-speed rail and metro and tram. For Greece and Georgia, passenger conventional rail and freight conventional rail are merged.
Figure 10: Final electricity consumption in rail transport by category, 2022 (%)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_d_traq)

Although rail transport is predominantly powered by electricity, the extent of its usage varies widely by country. Figure 10 shows the consumption of electricity in rail transport by country in 2022. In terms of absolute quantities, Germany had the highest consumption with 11 624 gigawatt-hour (GWh) (or 41.8 PJ), followed by France with 8 240 GWh (or 29.7 PJ), and Italy with 5 576 GWh (or 20.1 PJ). Electricity is primarily used in passenger transport, whether in conventional rail, high-speed rail or metro and tram. In all EU countries except Slovenia, passenger transport accounted for more than 50% of electricity consumption in rail transport, with most countries reporting a share of passenger transport over 70%. In 2 EU countries, high-speed trains consumed more electricity than conventional passenger trains: Spain (with shares of 34.7% and 10.5% respectively) and Germany (with shares of 30.3% and 12.9% respectively). France (30.9%) and Italy (19.0%) also displayed high shares of electricity consumed by high-speed trains, but with these shares remaining below the ones of conventional passenger trains. Metro and tram systems accounted for more than 10% of electricity use in most countries, reaching 100% in Ireland.

Stacked vertical bar chart showing Final energy consumption in conventional rail transport by energy product in 2022 in petajoules. The bars show individual EU countries, Norway and two candidate countries. Totalling one hundred percent, each country column has four stacks representing oil and petroleum products, electricity, renewables and biofuels and solid fossil fuels.
Figure 11: Final energy consumption in conventional rail transport by energy product, 2022 (PJ)
Source: Eurostat (nrg_d_traq)

High-speed trains, metros and trams are all powered by electricity and are used exclusively for passenger transport. Conventional rail, on the other hand, is powered by a variety of energy sources. In most countries, electricity was the primary energy source in all rail transport activities in 2022. However, there were notable exceptions, as shown in Figure 11. In Ireland, 100% of conventional rail was powered by oil and petroleum products, followed by Estonia at 92.1% and Croatia at 91.9%. Conversely, in Italy, only 3.1% of conventional rail transport relied on oil and petroleum products, with Sweden at 7.5% and the Netherlands at 14.1%.

Source data for tables and graphs

Methodological notes

In this article, “transport” includes the “energy used in all transport activities irrespective of the NACE category (economic sector) in which the activity occurs”, according to its definition in Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics. This includes transport activities by households and by business activities, including the transport sector itself (mostly located in NACE Section H), the services sector (of which the transport sector is a part) and the industry sector. Therefore, the other collections on final energy consumption in households, industry and services do not include any data on transport activities, leading to differences with other data sources, such as energy flow accounts.

Regarding road transport, the data in this Statistics Explained article presents the internationally agreed methodology on energy statistics, which states that the energy consumption in transport activities is measured by fuels sold within a country’s territory. However, in a few countries, this consumption may not accurately represent the real domestic consumption in road transport, mainly due to fuel prices. This phenomenon, known as fuel tourism, may lead to a higher energy consumption in road transport in countries with low fuel prices, and a lower one in countries with high fuel prices. To mitigate this issue, Eurostat included in the related questionnaire a voluntary category “Road transport (fuels used in the country’s territory)” where fuels sold within the country’s territory but utilised for transport activities abroad should not be reported. A few countries reported data under this voluntary category, and their data can be found in the nrg_d_traq dataset in Eurobase under “Final consumption – transport sector – road – fuel used”.

In energy statistics, “gas/diesel oil (gas oil and diesel oil)” includes on-road diesel oil for diesel compression ignition engines of cars and trucks, marine diesel and diesel used in rail traffic. In each mode of transport, Eurostat expects a majority of this fuel to be taken by the respective type of gas oil and diesel oil as described by Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008.

Data sources and availability

The statistics presented in this article are based on the annual data submitted to Eurostat in line with Regulation (EC) 1099/2008 on energy statistics. Complete disaggregated data on final energy consumption in transport are available for 2022 for all but 4 EU Member States. In line with the derogations granted to them, Finland did not report disaggregated data on final energy consumption in transport for 2022, Greece reported this data only partially, and Spain and Romania reported data points despite receiving a derogation on the entire collection. For several countries, the data are also available for the period 2020-2021, during which the reporting was voluntary. As of reference year 2022, the reporting is mandatory with a deadline of 31 March of the second year following the reference year. The methodology is harmonised for all reporting countries, resulting in a high level of comparability across countries.

Context

Disaggregation of statistics on final energy consumption is crucial for policy makers to monitor and further develop energy policies. Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics put in place 4 collections to gather detailed data on final energy consumption. Mandatory reporting of final energy consumption started in 2017 (reference year 2015) for the residential sector (households), in 2022 (reference year 2020) for the industry sector, and in 2024 (reference year 2022) for both the services sector and transport activities.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Data for 2022 are available for all EU Member States except Finland, who was granted a full derogation for the collection on disaggregated final energy consumption in transport activities. Spain and Romania were also granted a full derogation, but decided to send data points under the granted derogations. Greece was granted a partial derogation; only data on oil and electricity in rail transport are available. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2199 of 17 October 2023 granted derogations for the entire collection to Spain, Romania and Finland for reference years 2022 and 2023. The Implemented Regulation also granted partial derogations to Greece for several families of fuels for reference years 2022, 2023 and 2024.
  2. ↑ For the full list of energy products, please refer to Annex A of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 on energy statistics. In this Annex and in energy statistics, “gas/diesel oil” includes on-road diesel oil for diesel compression ignition engines of cars and trucks, marine diesel and diesel used in rail traffic.
  3. ↑ Petajoule is a unit of energy equal to 1015 joules.

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