Last year marked a significant decline in coal production and usage across the European Union. Coal output dropped to 242 million tons, while consumption fell to 306 million tons, representing year-on-year decreases of 12 percent and 13 percent, respectively. The most notable reductions occurred between 2022 and 2023, when coal production declined by 21 percent and demand by 23 percent. These figures highlight the diminishing role of solid fossil fuels in electricity generation across the EU.
In 2022, coal and related fuels made up 16 percent of the EU’s electricity mix, but by 2023 their share had fallen to just 12 percent. Over the broader period from 2018 to 2024, the consumption of both anthracite and lignite was cut roughly in half. A major milestone occurred in 2023 when solar energy installations generated more electricity than coal plants for the first time.
On the supply side, Russia’s status as the EU’s main coal exporter ended following the implementation of a near-total import ban in August 2022. As a result, Russian coal imports dropped by 98 percent between 2021 and 2023. Currently, Australia and the United States each provide about a quarter of the EU’s coal imports. They are followed by Colombia, which supplies 18 percent, South Africa with 14 percent, and Kazakhstan with 9 percent.
Anthracite production and usage have also become increasingly limited in geographical scope. Back in 1990, thirteen current EU countries were mining hard coal. By last year, only Poland and the Czech Republic continued to do so. Poland alone accounted for 97 percent of the EU’s anthracite production, with the Czech Republic supplying the remainder. In terms of consumption, Poland and Germany led the bloc in 2023, together accounting for 66 percent of anthracite use. Other member states such as the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Belgium each represented between 3 and 6 percent. Malta had already ceased using anthracite entirely by 1996.
In neighboring Western Balkan countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and North Macedonia, coal remained more significant, generating around half of all electricity in 2023. However, the general decline in coal use is also evident in EU countries with smaller coal footprints. For example, Croatia reduced its use of solid fossil fuels, including coal-derived products, from 1.02 million tons in 2015 to 584 thousand tons in 2023. This figure dropped even further to 391 thousand tons in 2024, reflecting coal’s rapidly diminishing role in Europe’s energy mix.
