In 2024, energy use by the Services sector increased by 2% when compared with 2023, whilst energy use by the Industry sector was unchanged for the same period (See Table 1A).
The overall quantity of energy use by Irish resident enterprises, in kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) increased by 1% in 2024 when compared with 2023.
Solid fuel use, which includes coal and peat, continued the downward trend seen in recent years, showing a 46% decrease in consumption when compared with 2023. (See Table 2A).
The cost of energy purchases by Irish resident enterprises in 2024 was estimated at €16.3 billion which was 4% lower than 2023 (See Table 1B).
Purchases of Electricity and Natural Gas together accounted for 58% of total energy costs incurred by enterprises in 2024 (See Table 2C).
The Transportation and Storage sector had the highest energy use, representing 44% of the energy use in kilotonnes of oil equivalent (See Table 3A).
This release analyses energy purchases by Industry and Services enterprises resident in Ireland. Energy purchased abroad by enterprises resident in Ireland is included e.g., fuel purchased by an Irish resident airline in other countries. Energy purchased in Ireland by foreign resident enterprises is not included e.g., purchases of autodiesel by a foreign registered vehicle.
A kilotonne of oil equivalent (ktoe) is a common unit of measurement which enables quantities of different fuels to be compared and aggregated. See Background Notes for more information.
The quantity share of energy use by the Services sector, expressed in kilotonnes of oil equivalent, stood at 58% in 2024 (See Table 1A). Within the service sector growth of 2.4% was noted in the use of Jet Kerosene fuel by Irish resident airlines in 2024 (and 9% in 2023) (See Table 2A).
Overall use of Electricity by Irish enterprises increased by 5% in 2024, while use of Natural Gas increased by 4% in 2024 (See Table 2B).
Purchases of Heavy Fuel Oil increased by 87% from 111 million litres in 2023 to 208 million litres in 2024. Purchases of Coal decreased by 40% from 0.6 million tonnes in 2023 to 0.37 million tonnes in 2024. Peat as a fuel has largely disappeared from Irish economy going from 350 thousand tonnes in 2023 to virtually nothing in 2024. This reflects the fact that peat burning power stations had fully transitioned to use of biomass by 2024. (See Table 2B).
| X-axis label | Electricity | Natural Gas | Petroleum Fuels | Solid Fuels | Renewable Energy | Road Transport Fuels | Rail Transport Fuels | Aviation Transport Fuels | Marine Transport Fuels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1493 | 3721 | 693 | 1979 | 304 | 819 | 39 | 3111 | 78 |
| 2016 | 1567 | 4210 | 644 | 1922 | 336 | 841 | 41 | 3758 | 84 |
| 2017 | 1599 | 4303 | 659 | 1608 | 352 | 859 | 42 | 4149 | 83 |
| 2018 | 1677 | 4449 | 651 | 1180 | 367 | 881 | 43 | 4413 | 90 |
| 2019 | 1640 | 4497 | 688 | 703 | 370 | 811 | 44 | 4539 | 87 |
| 2020 | 1589 | 4404 | 716 | 524 | 378 | 680 | 37 | 1842 | 95 |
| 2021 | 1723 | 4190 | 908 | 942 | 379 | 637 | 42 | 2905 | 96 |
| 2022 | 1852 | 4361 | 854 | 838 | 408 | 677 | 43 | 5104 | 100 |
| 2023 | 1976 | 4072 | 629 | 457 | 413 | 711 | 44 | 5566 | 98 |
| 2024 | 2070 | 4226 | 662 | 245 | 395 | 707 | 48 | 5699 | 94 |
| Electricity | Natural Gas | Petroleum Fuels | Solid Fuels | Renewable Energy | Road Transport Fuels | Rail Transport Fuels | Aviation Transport Fuels | Marine Transport Fuels | |
| Energy Product | 4.8 | 3.8 | 5.2 | -46.4 | -4.4 | -0.6 | 9.1 | 2.4 | -4.1 |
The Business Energy Use survey does not include the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing NACE sector. Across the Industry and Services sectors, 44% of energy use in 2024 was consumed by the Transportation and Storage sector (6,188 ktoe). The Electricity and Gas sector was the next highest with 22% of total energy use in 2024. Manufacture of Food, Beverages and Tobacco accounted for 5% and Information and Communication for 5% (See Table 3A). The distribution by NACE sector is quite different in terms of the monetary cost of energy purchases with the Transportation and Storage sector accounting for 34% of the total costs of energy purchases followed by the Electricity and Gas sector at 15% in 2024 (See Table 3B).
| Mining and Quarrying | Manufacturing | Electricity and Gas | Water Supply, Sewerage, and Waste Management | Construction | Wholesale, Retail, and Vehicle Repair | Transportation and Storage | Accommodation and Food Services | Public Administration, Education, Health and Care | Other Services Sectors | |
| 2015 | 68.622374581 | 2464.8958331 | 3844.6765597 | 140.29425062 | 197.28176221 | 449.59082877 | 3715.3787834 | 234.21174973 | 531.11917155 | 591.71271876 |
| 2016 | 76.768907083 | 2491.3583072 | 4309.5758806 | 131.03881896 | 183.40569984 | 441.35409067 | 4367.4166696 | 222.9577361 | 544.75866776 | 633.13686295 |
| 2017 | 72.634882339 | 2558.7420715 | 4054.9756603 | 128.51194972 | 245.77770237 | 434.29260539 | 4801.1612956 | 205.26547386 | 544.42022319 | 607.46988211 |
| 2018 | 71.366271652 | 2658.3914466 | 3677.3744947 | 124.35872275 | 237.41007368 | 443.45522048 | 5079.6745659 | 207.82917481 | 567.68018908 | 683.05623056 |
| 2019 | 74.087317673 | 2587.7272995 | 3380.124489 | 154.57730531 | 206.50331703 | 429.99926344 | 5110.9614224 | 196.88844926 | 566.18824671 | 671.91306604 |
| 2020 | 52.469695157 | 2593.2982988 | 3245.6834189 | 137.20233345 | 221.44849357 | 368.58276961 | 2293.9416114 | 148.74431891 | 516.65004033 | 687.97386414 |
| 2021 | 50.000054346 | 2543.8196531 | 3675.8714067 | 142.90886379 | 239.34746514 | 373.01768404 | 3330.2262917 | 144.37743477 | 531.9675584 | 790.60415326 |
| 2022 | 41.681177261 | 2481.9594737 | 3817.1806219 | 119.38534033 | 206.33608346 | 386.56036389 | 5571.6741173 | 165.95758615 | 558.08408982 | 888.55360319 |
| 2023 | 29.143046293 | 2379.6948502 | 3063.3171213 | 130.395181 | 269.44111506 | 371.54087202 | 6032.7767797 | 180.63281381 | 534.42078857 | 974.82594689 |
| 2024 | 13.951735192 | 2404.5907002 | 3058.5824763 | 131.54375093 | 264.2891698 | 358.30316532 | 6188.4081416 | 174.0770139 | 532.92436347 | 1019.1000324 |
At an energy product level, the Manufacturing sector used 28% of Electricity consumption, 31% of Natural Gas, 34% of Total Petroleum Fuels, and 49% of Total Renewable Energy. The Electricity and Gas sector used 79% of Total Solid Fuels. Public Administration, Education, Health and Care accounted for 9% of Electricity use and 4% of Natural Gas use in 2024. The Transportation and Storage NACE sector accounted for 44% of energy consumption in 2024, with 92% of fuel use in this sector coming from Aviation Transport Fuels (See Table 4A).
The cost of energy purchases by enterprises in 2024 was €16.25 billion which was 4% lower than 2023 (See Table 5A and Table 5B).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (03 September 2026) published Business Energy Use 2024.
Commenting on the release, Darko Babic, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "The estimated cost of purchases of energy by Irish resident enterprises fell by 4% from €17 billion in 2023 to €16.3 billion in 2024 (See Table 1B). In contrast, the overall quantity of energy used by Irish resident enterprises, in kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) increased by 1% over the same period. (See Table 1A).
Consumption of solid fuels, such as coal and peat, continued the downward trend seen in recent years. Use of coal by businesses reduced from 412 ktoe in 2023 to 245 ktoe in 2024, representing a 41% decrease. Consumption of peat also decreased from 45 ktoe in 2023, to 0 ktoe in 2024. (See Table 2A).
Quantities of Heavy Fuel Oil consumed by businesses rose by 86% to 192 ktoe in 2024, however this was relative to a low figure of 103 ktoe in 2023. Consumption of Petroleum coke decreased from 113 ktoe in 2023 to 77 ktoe in 2024.
Looking at energy use by sector, the Services sector saw an increase of 2% in energy use in 2024 compared with 2023 whilst the Industry energy use was unchanged for the same period.
Transportation and Storage had the highest energy use of any sector, at 6,188 ktoe in 2024, which made up 44% of total energy use. A large component of this came from consumption of aviation fuel by Irish resident airlines. (See Table 3A)."