Household energy consumption for cooling in the European Union doubled between 2018 and 2024, rising from 40.5 thousand terajoules (TJ) to 80.4 thousand TJ, according to data from Copernicus.
That is a 99% increase in just six years, driven by rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves across the continent. In June 2026, western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, and the three warmest years globally — 2024, 2023, and 2025 — have all occurred in the last three years.
The long-term trend is even starker. In 2010, EU households consumed just 15.5 thousand TJ for cooling. Over 14 years, that figure has climbed by 420%.
Countries with the biggest jumps in cooling energy use
The raw percentage increases tell a dramatic story, but they come with a catch. Some countries started from near-zero consumption, so even modest adoption of cooling technology produces enormous percentage gains. Austria is the clearest example: its household energy use for cooling soared from 22 TJ in 2018 to 253 TJ in 2024 — an increase of more than 1,000%, the largest in Europe.
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Among EU member states, Czechia recorded a 244% rise, followed by Italy at 193%. Energy consumption for cooling also more than doubled in Hungary (171%), Finland (163%), Spain (127%), Slovenia (114%), and Greece (103%) over the same period. The increases in Italy, Spain, and Greece show that demand is not just growing in countries new to air conditioning — it is also rising sharply in southern Europe where cooling was already common.
Among the EU’s largest economies, France saw a 52% increase, while Germany remained relatively flat with just an 8% rise. A reading of zero in the data indicates that no energy consumption for cooling was reported, not that there was no increase at all.
Where cooling eats up the biggest share of household energy
The EU average share of household energy used for space cooling remains below 1% — just 0.84% as of 2024. But in some countries, cooling consumes a much larger slice of the pie. Cyprus leads, with 16% of household energy consumption going to cooling. Malta (15%) and Albania (13.4%), an EU candidate country, are also in double digits.
In Greece, the share is 7.4%. It sits above 2% in North Macedonia (3%), Montenegro (2.9%), Spain (2.5%), Italy (2.3%), and Croatia (2.1%).
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Italy stands out in absolute terms.
It consumes 26.3 thousand TJ for cooling — nearly a third of the entire EU total, at 32.7%. Spain ranks second in both share and absolute consumption, at 17.8% and 14.3 thousand TJ. Greece holds the third-highest share in the EU, at 14.8%, well ahead of France at 11.8%. When candidate countries are included, Turkey places third in absolute consumption, at 13.6 thousand TJ.
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During the June 2026 heatwaves, electricity demand rose sharply across the EU’s four largest economies. France recorded the biggest increase.
According to France’s grid operator RTE, every 1°C rise in temperature typically adds between 0.7 GW and 1 GW of electricity demand. Cooling alone likely accounted for an extra 10 to 14 GW during the hottest days.