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Metered electricity consumption by data centres increased by 10% from 6,335 Gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2023 to 6,969 GWh in 2024. Consumption by all other users, including residential and other business customers, increased by 3% over the same period (See Table 1).
The percentage share of metered electricity consumption used by data centres rose to 22% in 2024 from 5% in 2015 (See Table 1).
In 2024, urban households accounted for 18% and rural households for 10% of total metered electricity consumption (See Infographic and Metered Electricity Consumption release also published today).
Quarterly metered electricity consumption by data centres increased steadily from 290 GWh in the first quarter of 2015 to 1,829 GWh in the fourth quarter of 2024. This was an increase of 531% (See Table 2 and Figure 2).
Total metered electricity consumption rose by 30% between 2015 and 2024 (See Table 1).
As data centres are not separately classified in the source data the CSO uses various approaches to identify them including: name searches for known data centre operators, information from industry reports and internet searches, and examination of high consumption customers to determine the business sector they are in. See the Background Notes for more information.
| Table 1 Metered Electricity Consumption 2015-2024 | ||||
| Gigawatt hours | % of Total | |||
| Year | Data Centre | Other Metered Customers | Total | % Data Centre |
| 2015 | 1,238 | 23,362 | 24,600 | 5 |
| 2016 | 1,480 | 23,876 | 25,356 | 6 |
| 2017 | 1,760 | 23,966 | 25,725 | 7 |
| 2018 | 2,180 | 24,550 | 26,730 | 8 |
| 2019 | 2,488 | 24,017 | 26,505 | 9 |
| 2020 | 3,028 | 24,027 | 27,056 | 11 |
| 2021 | 4,010 | 24,496 | 28,506 | 14 |
| 2022 | 5,270 | 24,554 | 29,824 | 18 |
| 2023 | 6,335 | 24,245 | 30,581 | 21 |
| 2024 | 6,969 | 24,934 | 31,903 | 22 |
| X-axis label | Data Centres | Other Metered Customers |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1238 | 23362 |
| 2016 | 1480 | 23876 |
| 2017 | 1760 | 23966 |
| 2018 | 2180 | 24550 |
| 2019 | 2488 | 24017 |
| 2020 | 3028 | 24027 |
| 2021 | 4010 | 24496 |
| 2022 | 5270 | 24554 |
| 2023 | 6335 | 24245 |
| 2024 | 6969 | 24934 |
| Table 2 Data Centres Metered Electricity Consumption by Quarter 2015-2024 | |||||
| Gigawatt hours | |||||
| Year | Jan-Mar | Apr-Jun | Jul-Sep | Oct-Dec | Total |
| 2015 | 290 | 303 | 316 | 329 | 1,238 |
| 2016 | 340 | 360 | 385 | 395 | 1,480 |
| 2017 | 406 | 433 | 449 | 472 | 1,760 |
| 2018 | 490 | 526 | 573 | 591 | 2,180 |
| 2019 | 578 | 600 | 638 | 672 | 2,488 |
| 2020 | 690 | 721 | 765 | 851 | 3,028 |
| 2021 | 921 | 986 | 1,035 | 1,068 | 4,010 |
| 2022 | 1,194 | 1,286 | 1,335 | 1,456 | 5,270 |
| 2023 | 1,496 | 1,553 | 1,625 | 1,662 | 6,335 |
| 2024 | 1,657 | 1,691 | 1,792 | 1,829 | 6,969 |
| X-axis label | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 290 | 303 | 316 | 329 |
| 2016 | 340 | 360 | 385 | 395 |
| 2017 | 406 | 433 | 449 | 472 |
| 2018 | 490 | 526 | 573 | 591 |
| 2019 | 578 | 600 | 638 | 672 |
| 2020 | 690 | 721 | 765 | 851 |
| 2021 | 921 | 986 | 1035 | 1068 |
| 2022 | 1194 | 1286 | 1335 | 1456 |
| 2023 | 1496 | 1553 | 1625 | 1662 |
| 2024 | 1657 | 1691 | 1792 | 1829 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 June 2025) published Data Centres Metered Electricity Consumption 2024.
Commenting on the release Dr Grzegorz Głaczyński, Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "Newly released data tracks metered electricity consumption by data centres on a quarterly basis from 2015 to 2024. Over this period, data centre consumption saw a significant rise, from 290 GWh in the first quarter of 2015 to 1,829 GWh in the final quarter of 2024 (See Figure 2 for the trend). Alongside a separate release on total metered electricity use, these figures reveal that data centres’ share of total metered electricity consumption grew substantially from 5% in 2015 to 22% in 2024. In contrast, 2024 saw urban households account for 18% and rural households for 10% of the total (See Infographic).
Large energy users, a category that typically includes larger data centres, made up the largest share at 31% of total metered electricity consumption in 2024. Their consumption reached 9,897 GWh in 2024, a 9% increase from the previous year.”