Energy

Energy use in the industry sector declines 5% in 2023

Published

10 months ago

July 29, 2025

In 2023, the final energy consumption in the industry sector in the EU was 8990 petajoules (PJ), down 5.3% compared with 2022 (9489 PJ). The industry sector has had a long-term decline in energy use, falling almost a third since 1990.

Electricity and natural gas accounted for almost two-thirds of final energy consumption in the EU’s industry sector (32.6% and 31.3%, respectively). Oil and petroleum products accounted for 11.4 %, followed by renewables and biofuels (11.2%). Solid fossil fuels had a 6.0% share in the mix, derived heat 5.3%, whereas non-renewable waste accounted for 2.1%.

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Source dataset: nrg_bal_s

Renewables biggest energy source in paper industry

In one of the sub-sectors, the paper, pulp and printing industry, renewables and biofuels are by far the most important fuel group (302.5 PJ or 70.3%) for energy use.

For the first time, renewables and biofuels (246.8 PJ or 33.9%) had the highest energy consumption share in the manufacturing of paper and other paper products (pulp excluded), ahead of electricity (236.9 PJ or 32.6%) and natural gas (147.3 PJ or 20.3%).

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Source dataset: nrg_d_indq_n