The energy consumption of households in the European Union for the operation of air conditioners has increased steadily, reaching 80,400 terajoules (TJ) in 2024, almost double the 40,500 terajoules (TJ) in 2024, according to data published by Eurostat on Wednesday.

According to these data, between 2018 and 2024, the energy consumed by households in the EU for the operation of air conditioners increased every year, except for 2023 and 2020, when it decreased by 1.9% and 2.5%, respectively, compared to previous years.

Among EU Member States, Italy, Spain and Greece had the highest total energy consumption for space cooling in 2024, with 26,300 TJ, 14,300 TJ and 11,900 TJ respectively.

In the case of Romania, total energy consumption for space cooling increased slightly, from 1,045 TJ in 2018 to 1,137 TJ in 2024.

When it comes to the share of energy used for space cooling in final household consumption, Cyprus and Malta are in the top positions in the EU with 16% and 15% respectively. In Greece, 7.4% of household energy consumption was for cooling, while in Spain and Italy, the shares were lower, at 2.5% and 2.3% respectively.

For the year 2024, in the EU, the main use of energy by households was for heating homes (61.5% of final energy consumption in the residential sector), while the proportion used for water heating represented 15.6%. Cumulatively, space and water heating represented 77.1% of final energy consumed by households in the EU.