The National Statistics Institute (INE) reported that this development resulted from a 3.5% reduction in energy use combined with a real growth of 3.1% in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In the household sector, energy intensity followed a different path, registering an increase of 2.1%. According to the INE, this behavior was due to a 4.5% rise in energy product consumption, exceeding the growth in private consumption (+2.3%).
Electricity production from renewable sources rose by 15.2%, driven by a greater availability of water resources (+84.2%) and a significant increase in solar energy production (35.2%).
Renewable energies accounted for 62.4% of total electricity production, the highest value since 2000, benefiting from a sharp drop in natural gas use (-37.3%) and the elimination of coal in electricity production following the closure of the last two coal-fired power plants in 2021.
In 2022, the most recent year with comparable data for the European Union, Portugal was the second Member State with the lowest energy intensity in the economy.
