Germany’s total energy consumption is expected to fall by nearly 3% in 2026 compared with the previous year, according to a forecast from the Working Group on Energy Balances (AGEB). The group attributed the decline mainly to subdued economic activity and a sharp rise in energy prices. Weather and other factors had only a limited effect, it said. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected to drop by almost 4% over the full year.
The forecast is based on data from the first nine months of 2026, when energy use was down 3.6% from the same period a year earlier. Lower sales of mineral oil and a further decline in lignite consumption contributed to the fall. Consumption of natural gas, Renewable energy and hard coal, by contrast, increased.
Mineral oil use fell by more than 12% from January to September. Gasoline consumption declined 4% and diesel use fell by more than 9%. Sales of aviation fuel dropped 3%, while deliveries of naphtha to the chemical industry decreased by about 5%. Light heating oil recorded the steepest fall, at more than 38%. AGEB said consumers had reduced their stocks amid high prices and bought only small amounts to replenish them.
Natural gas consumption rose 0.8%, while hard coal use increased by more than 8%. Coal use in power plants grew 7.2%, and the iron and steel industry also consumed slightly more coal. Renewable energy consumption rose 5.7%.
Germany exported more electricity than it imported during the first nine months, with a net export balance of 1.9 terawatt-hours. In the same periods of the previous two years, the country had recorded substantial net imports.
Renewables accounted for 22.5% of total energy consumption in the first three quarters of 2026, up from 20.5% a year earlier. Oil, natural gas and coal together still supplied 75.5% of the energy consumed in Germany. Domestic primary energy use for the period totalled 10,356 petajoules, or 2,877 terawatt-hours.
Sources: Handelsblatt.