Cyprus recorded the highest share of household energy consumption devoted to air conditioning and cooling in the European Union in 2024, according to figures released on Wednesday by Eurostat, highlighting the growing impact of hotter weather on domestic energy demand.

The latest figures show that 16 per cent of final household energy consumption in Cyprus was used for space cooling, the highest proportion among all EU member states.

Malta ranked second, with 15 per cent of household energy consumption devoted to cooling.

Although southern European countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece consumed larger overall volumes of energy for air conditioning because of their bigger populations, Cyprus stood out for the proportion of household energy dedicated to keeping homes cool.

Eurostat’s figures show that Greece allocated 7.4 per cent of household energy consumption to space cooling, while the corresponding shares were 2.5 per cent in Spain and 2.3 per cent in Italy.

Across the EU as a whole, household energy consumption for space cooling reached 80.4 thousand terajoules (TJ) in 2024, reflecting the increasing importance of air conditioning as temperatures continue to rise.

The latest total represents double the level recorded in 2018, when EU households consumed 40.5 thousand terajoules for space cooling.

According to Eurostat, household energy consumption for cooling increased every year between 2018 and 2024, with the exception of 2020, when it declined by 2.5 per cent compared with the previous year, and 2023, when it fell by 1.9 per cent.

Despite those temporary declines, the longer-term trend has been one of sustained growth as cooling becomes an increasingly important part of household energy use across Europe.

In absolute terms, Italy recorded the highest energy consumption for space cooling at 26.3 thousand terajoules, followed by Spain with 14.3 thousand terajoules and Greece with 11.9 thousand terajoules.

However, Eurostat’s figures indicate that Cyprus and Malta remain by far the most cooling-dependent household markets in the EU when measured as a share of total household energy consumption, underlining the particular impact of high summer temperatures in the two Mediterranean island states.

Indeed, the aforementioned figures illustrate how rising temperatures are reshaping household energy demand, with cooling accounting for an increasingly significant proportion of domestic electricity use in warmer parts of Europe.