Panel 1
Antonio Caputo, Giulia Iorio, Francesca Palomba
The indicator measures the energy consumed by end users and the total energy consumed by the country. Since 1990, there has been a general upward trend in the energy available for final consumption, reaching a peak in 2005. This was followed by a reversal, with consumption declining to a minimum in 2014. From then until 2018, a recovery in final consumption was observed, followed by a decrease in 2019 and a sharp drop in 2020 due to the lockdown of economic activities aimed at containing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Consumption then rebounded in 2021, before declining again in 2022. In 2022, the energy available for final consumption—calculated according to the methodology adopted by Eurostat—amounted to 112.0 Mtoe, a 6.9% decrease compared to 2021.
The indicator, calculated according to the Eurostat methodology, provides information on the energy requirements of the entire national economy across various sectors.
To assess trends in total energy consumption at the national and sectoral levels, with the aim of reducing overall energy use.
The European Union has updated its climate strategy framework, setting a target of a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, a renewable energy share of at least 42.5% (based on a provisional agreement in 2023, with an ambition to reach 45%), and an 11.7% reduction in final energy consumption relative to projections under the 2020 reference scenario.
As part of the EU energy governance process, Italy submitted the updated version of its National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) to the European Commission on July 1, 2024. The PNIEC incorporates previous policy documents and outlines the necessary measures to meet EU targets on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
With regard to final energy consumption, and in order to contribute to the binding EU target, the PNIEC states that Italy’s final energy consumption—taking into account additional measures beyond existing policies—is expected to reach 102 Mtoe and primary energy consumption 123 Mtoe by 2030. These figures fall short of the targets set by the revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED III), which are 93 Mtoe for final energy and 111 Mtoe for primary energy.
Binding targets for the reduction of final energy consumption are also defined, through mandatory energy efficiency schemes established under Article 7 of Directive (EU) 2018/2002. These targets entail an annual reduction of 0.8% in final energy consumption for each year from 2021 to 2030, based on the average annual consumption over the 2016–2018 period, to be achieved through active policies. This corresponds to a cumulative reduction of 73.42 Mtoe over the 2021–2030 period.
Regarding the main national legislative references for the 2020 targets, Legislative Decree No. 102/2014, as amended by Legislative Decree No. 73 of July 14, 2020, implements Directive 2012/27/EU, as amended by Directive 2018/2002/EU.
For energy efficiency targets up to 2030, the key regulatory acts include:
-
Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union.
-
Directive (EU) 2018/2002 on energy efficiency (revising Directive 2012/27/EU), transposed into national law by Legislative Decree No. 73/2020.
-
Directive (EU) 2018/844, amending Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings and Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, EPBD), transposed by Legislative Decree No. 48 of June 10, 2020.
-
Directive (EU) 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources.
-
Directive (EU) 2023/1791 on energy efficiency.
Panel 2
European Environment Agency, Energy and Environment in the European Union, Environmental issue report, No. 31, 2002
European Energy and Transport Trends to 2030–2007 update. European Commission DG TREN. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 2008
MASE, National Energy Balance, various years, https://sisen.mase.gov.it/dgsaie/
MASE, 2022, The National Energy Situation in 2022, https://www.mase.gov.it/sites/default/files/Archivio_Energia/LA%20RELAZIONE%20SULLA%20SITUAZIONE%20ENERGETICA%20NAZIONALE%20NEL%202022_MASE%20Luglio%202023.pdf
Since January 2019, Eurostat has revised the historical data series by adopting a new methodology, the main change of which involves reallocating part of the consumption from the steel sector to the transformation sector. An additional methodological change was introduced in 2021, concerning the accounting of fuel consumption for self-produced heat in the industrial sector, which was previously included under transformation. As a result, the data presented are not comparable with previous editions.
Data quality assessment
ENEA (Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente)
EUROSTAT (Ufficio Statistico delle Comunità Europee)
MASE (Ministero dell'ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica)
MASE, National Energy Balance, https://dgsaie.mise.gov.it/bilancio-energetico-nazionale
ENEA, Regional Energy Balances
EUROSTAT, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database
National
1990-2022
Indicator assessment
Since 2015, Eurostat has used its established methodology for processing energy consumption data, and this applies to the entire historical data series, including data collected before 2015. In January 2019, Eurostat updated its historical data series by implementing a revised methodology. This change primarily involved shifting some consumption from the steel sector to the transformation sector. As a result, the data presented are not comparable with previous editions.
In 2022, the energy available for final consumption amounted to 112.0 Mtoe, a 6.9% decrease compared to the previous year.
The civil sector (residential and services) accounted for 41.7% of final energy consumption, with 27.1% attributed to the residential sector and 14.6% to the tertiary sector. The transport and industrial sectors accounted for 33.1% and 22.2%, respectively, while the agriculture and fisheries sector represented the remaining 2.8% (Table 1 and Figure 1).
Since 1990, the energy available for final consumption has shown a growing trend, reaching a peak in 2005 (+21.3% compared to 1990).
Subsequently, a reversal occurred, with consumption declining by 18.4% in 2014 compared to 2005 and by 1% compared to 1990 (Table 1 and Figure 1). This decline was accelerated by the economic crisis.
From 2015 onwards, the energy available for final consumption began to recover until 2017, followed by a downward trend in recent years. The sharp reduction recorded in 2020 (–7.9% compared to 2019) is attributed to the lockdown of economic activities implemented to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
In 2021, there was an increase in energy available for final consumption (+10.1% compared to 2020), reaching 120.3 Mtoe, which also exceeded the 1990 level by 4.6%.
In 2022, final energy availability decreased by 6.9% compared to the previous year, amounting to 112.0 Mtoe.
Final energy consumption trends by sector differ from 1990 levels: in agriculture, the value remained relatively unchanged; in industry, a 27.8% decline was observed. In contrast, transport and the civil sector (residential and services) showed increases of 12.2% and 33.9%, respectively.
Data
Figure 1: Final Energy Consumption by Economic Sector
ISPRA elaboration based on data from MASE, ENEA, and EUROSTAT
*Water supply system consumption is included in the Services sector
Table 1: Final Energy Consumption by Economic Sector
MASE, ENEA, EUROSTAT
*Water supply system consumption is included in the Services sector
National final energy consumption peaked in 2005, followed by a sharp decline starting in 2009 and continuing through 2014 as a result of the economic crisis.
The subsequent years showed a recovery up to 2017, followed by a contraction in consumption, which became particularly pronounced in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2021, energy consumption rebounded, but declined again in 2022.
In 2022, final energy consumption in the transport sector increased by 5.4% compared to the previous year, while consumption in the industrial sector and other sectors decreased by 6.9% and 7.8%, respectively.