Large Decrease in Gas Consumption in Hungary

Hungarian citizens and companies have started to save a lot of energy. In December 2022, for example, Hungary consumed almost 24% less natural gas than a year earlier. And the weather is also helping.

Around a quarter less gas was used in Hungary in December than a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Energy. Electricity consumption also fell.

The significant drop is also due to the mild weather, conscious consumer behavior in the face of rising energy prices, and to savings measures.

Households reduced their gas consumption by more than 23% and economic actors by almost 25% in the last month of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. For the full year last year, gas consumption was 16.6% lower for residential users and 17.2% lower for business users than in 2021.

This was also due to the gas saving measures imposed on some state-owned institutions. The remaining stock available in domestic storage would last for about three months as the country approaches the half-way point of the heating season, without any additional volumes – assuming higher winter demand in previous years.

Electricity consumption in Hungary also declined compared to last year. In December, it was 7.1% lower than in 2021, and nearly 3% lower on an annual basis.