Panel 1
Antonio Caputo, Giulia Iorio, Francesca Palomba
The indicator illustrates the national economy’s dependence on imports of various energy sources to meet its energy requirements. A reduction in the share of oil and an increase in the share of renewable energy sources contribute to a decrease in national energy dependency. Since 2007, a downward trend has been observed, with energy dependency falling from a peak of 85.5% in 2006 to a low of 75.1% in 2020. In 2021, the dependency rate rose to 76.9%, and continued to increase in 2022, reaching 78.7%.
The indicator measures the national economy’s reliance on imports of different energy sources to satisfy its demand. It is calculated as the ratio of net imports to total domestic supply (excluding stock changes).
To provide information on the security of energy supply by assessing the level of dependence on imports of energy sources and primary electricity.
With Decision No. 1386/2013/EU, the European Union established the 7th Environmental Action Programme, covering the period up to 2020. On 14 October 2020, the European Commission presented a proposal for a decision establishing the 8th Environmental Action Programme for the period 2021–2030. On 29 March 2022, the Council of the EU adopted the 8th Environmental Action Programme for 2021–2030. Although there are no legally binding thresholds for energy imports set by current legislation, the indicator aligns with European environmental policies aimed at decarbonisation and improving energy efficiency.
Panel 2
MASE, 2023, La situazione energetica nazionale nel 2022
Data quality assessment
ENEA (Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente) MSE (Ministero dello sviluppo economico
MASE, Bilancio energetico nazionale link: https://sisen.mase.gov.it/dgsaie/
Database Eurostat al seguente link: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database
National
1990-2022
Indicator assessment
The indicator is calculated as the ratio between net imports and the total energy supply excluding stock changes. This indicator, along with other energy statistics, forms an integral part of the European Statistical System (ESS).
In 2022, energy dependency—defined as the ratio between net imports and total energy supply excluding stock changes—stood at 78.7%. Dependency on solid fuels was total, while dependency on oil and natural gas amounted to 95.5% and 95.6%, respectively. Dependency on renewable sources was recorded at 7.2% (Table 1).
The lack of domestic energy resources makes Italy a country with high energy dependency. Since 2007, a downward trend in energy dependency has been observed, decreasing from a peak of 85.5% in 2006 to a minimum of 75.1% in 2020. This was followed by an increase of 1.8 percentage points in 2021 and a further 1.8 percentage point rise in 2022 (Table 1 and Figure 1).
Data
Table 1: Italian energy import dependency*
ENEA elaboration on MASE/Eurostat data
*Energy dependence calculated as: Net imports / Total domestic supply (excluding stock changes).
Figure 1: Italy's Energy Dependence*
ENEA processing of MASE/Eurostat data
*Net imports / Total energy supply (excluding stock variations)
The average dependency on solid fuels over the period 1990–2022 was 99.5%, with total reliance on imports in recent years. For natural gas and oil, the average dependency was 81.5% and 95.7%, respectively (Table 1). A long-term decreasing trend is observed for oil dependency, reaching its lowest value of 92.5% in both 2014 and 2020. However, it increased to 94.3% in 2021 and further to 95.5% in 2022. Dependency on natural gas shows a steady increase, rising from 64.3% in 1990 to 95.6% in 2022. Dependency on renewable energy sources increased from 1.4% in 1990 to a peak of 13.3% in 2011, followed by a decline to 7.1% in 2021 and 7.2% in 2022 (Table 1).