According to data published by Eurostat, the EU continues to largely rely on fossil fuels for its overall energy supply, as illustrated by the ratio of fossil fuels in gross available energy. In 2021, fossil fuels made up 70 % of gross available energy in the EU, remaining at the same level as in 2020.
However, this percentage had decreased significantly over the last decades. Since 1990, the first year for which data are available, it dropped by 13 %, mostly due to the increase in renewable energy.
The largest increase in the share of fossil fuels in the energy mix of individual EU member states was reported in Bulgaria (4 %) in 2021 compared to 2020. Estonia follows with 3 % increase, then Poland and Slovakia with 2 % and Spain with 1 % increase.
A decrease in the share of fossil fuels was registered in Finland, Belgium and Lithuania (3 %), followed by Portugal and Denmark with 2 % decrease.
In 2021, Malta remained the EU member state with the highest share of fossil fuels in the total volume of energy (96 %). Cyprus and the Netherlands follow with 89 %, as well as Ireland and Poland (88 %).
In Bulgaria, fossil fuels had a share of 66.38 % in the country’s energy mix in 2021. The average level for the European Union is 69.87 %.
