WorldPulse

EU Electricity Consumption

Daily electricity load data for 27 European countries, aggregated from hourly metered consumption. Sourced from the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform, the official data hub for Europe's electricity transmission system operators.

Key Markets

Latest: Mar 19, 2026

Total EU/EEA Electricity Load (7-day average)

6.3 TWh GWh/day

25 countries reporting

Germany

1316

GWh/day (7d avg)

+2.0%

France

1280

GWh/day (7d avg)

+4.9%

Spain

533

GWh/day (7d avg)

-20.8%

Italy

425

GWh/day (7d avg)

-3.2%

Poland

437

GWh/day (7d avg)

-0.4%

Netherlands

231

GWh/day (7d avg)

-5.8%

Daily Electricity Load Comparison

All Countries (25)

Country7d Avg (GWh)WoW90d TrendRegion
Germany1316+2.0%Western Europe
France1280+4.9%Western Europe
Spain533-20.8%Southern Europe
Poland437-0.4%Central Europe
Italy425-3.2%Southern Europe
Finland264-1.9%Northern Europe
Belgium234+1.7%Western Europe
Netherlands231-5.8%Western Europe
Switzerland184+1.6%Western Europe
Czech Republic179-0.4%Central Europe
Austria167+0.6%Central Europe
Portugal154-3.2%Southern Europe
Romania140+0.8%Eastern Europe
Greece137+5.5%Southern Europe
Norway116-1.3%Northern Europe
Hungary115-2.8%Central Europe
Bulgaria111-0.6%Eastern Europe
Denmark67-11.3%Northern Europe
Croatia48+2.3%Southern Europe
Slovenia39-8.2%Central Europe
Lithuania30-2.6%Northern Europe
Sweden29-10.6%Northern Europe
Estonia22-1.8%Northern Europe
Latvia18-8.8%Northern Europe
Slovakia17-6.3%Central Europe
Ireland------Western Europe
Serbia------Eastern Europe

Electricity Consumption as an Economic Indicator

Electricity consumption is one of the most reliable real-time proxies for economic activity. Unlike GDP, which is published quarterly with months of lag, electricity load data is available daily and cannot be revised. As Li Keqiang, then Premier of China, famously noted, electricity consumption is one of three indicators he trusts over official GDP figures.

Industrial production, commercial activity, and household consumption all draw power from the grid. A sustained decline in electricity load — after adjusting for weather and seasonal patterns — typically signals an economic slowdown. During the 2020 COVID lockdowns, European electricity demand dropped 10–25% within days, providing the earliest real-time measure of the economic shock.

What Does This Data Show?

This page tracks actual total electricity load for each country — the sum of all electricity consumed from the grid, measured by transmission system operators (TSOs) at 15-minute or hourly intervals. We aggregate to daily totals in gigawatt-hours (GWh). Multi-zone countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy) show the primary bidding zone only.

Seasonal Patterns

Electricity demand follows strong seasonal cycles driven by heating and cooling needs. Northern European countries (Germany, France, Scandinavia) peak in winter due to electric heating and shorter daylight hours. Southern European countries (Spain, Italy, Greece) show a secondary summer peak from air conditioning demand. Weekend and holiday effects create weekly cycles of 10–20% amplitude.

Data Source

All data is sourced from the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform, operated by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. ENTSO-E collects data from 39 TSOs across 35 countries under EU Regulation 543/2013, which mandates publication of generation, load, and transmission data. Coverage begins in 2015 for most countries.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is "total load" and how is it measured?

Total load is the actual electricity consumed from the grid in a given bidding zone, measured by transmission system operators (TSOs). It includes industrial, commercial, and residential consumption but excludes self-generation that never enters the grid. ENTSO-E publishes this as document type A65 (System total load) with process type A16 (Realised), at 15-minute or hourly resolution depending on the country.

Why is electricity load useful as an economic indicator?

Electricity consumption correlates strongly with industrial production, services output, and overall GDP. Unlike most economic statistics, it is available in near-real-time (next day), cannot be revised retroactively, and covers the entire economy. Academic research (Arora & Lieskovsky, 2014) finds electricity consumption "provides a useful check on GDP estimates, particularly for developing economies."

Why do some countries show fewer data points?

Data availability varies by country. Most EU members provide complete daily data from 2015, but some have gaps due to TSO reporting delays or system changes. France and Romania show shorter histories. Ireland's EIC zone does not return data through this API endpoint.

How often is this data updated?

WorldPulse fetches ENTSO-E data daily via the scheduled ingestion pipeline. Data for the previous day is typically available by mid-morning CET. All observations are timestamped with their recording date for point-in-time reconstruction.

What about weather normalization?

Raw electricity load is heavily influenced by weather — particularly heating degree days (HDD) in winter and cooling degree days (CDD) in summer. WorldPulse also tracks Copernicus ERA5 weather data for these countries, enabling weather-normalized consumption analysis. A weather-adjusted electricity index is planned as a derived series.

Data: European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity — ENTSO-E Transparency Platform. Actual total load (document type A65) published under EU Regulation 543/2013. Updated daily. Coverage from January 2015 to present.