In the Basque Country, greenhouse gas emissions fell from 11.8 CO2eq(kt) (equivalent to CO2 in kilotonnes) per inhabitant to 8.6 between 2005 and 2022. Even with this reduction, compared to European states emissions remain above the European average.
In the Basque Country the intensity of cold (the average number of heating degree days or HDD) has declined in recent decades. the EU27 averages are higher than those of the Basque Country, indicating that in other European countries heating needs are greater than in the Basque Country, but the trend is the same: there is less and less need to use heating.
No clear downward trend in energy consumption can be seen in the Basque Country, which is among the places with the highest energy consumption in comparison with European states (except for three states with very high consumption).
By type of energy, the figures for the Basque Country’s own evolution, especially in comparison with Europe, are not encouraging: the Basque Country mostly uses petroleum, and this is an upward trend, rising from 39.8% to 43.3%. Across the EU27, on the other hand, it fell from 38.0% to 35.0% in 2020. Consumption of electrical energy has fallen in the Basque Country and risen in the EU27 (-1.7 and +0.4). In renewable energies, the Basque Country was up 2.1 points and the WU27 2.8 points. There is only one indicator in which the Basque Country beats the EU27: consumption of natural gas, which fell 4 points in the Basque Country, while rising 0.5 in the EU27.
Food consumption in homes in the Basque Country has fallen significantly in the last decade, from 2,012,068 kilograms in 2008 to 1,779,969 kilograms in 2023. The products consumed most are fresh fruit (91 kg), followed by milk (74 kg) and fresh vegetables (57 kg); only fresh vegetables have seen a slight rise, while consumption of bread has fallen by nearly half (down 21 kg), and that of fresh fruit and milk has also fallen considerably (-18).