Buildings use about 40% of the energy consumed in the EU, and most of the energy used in homes goes on heating. Three in four buildings have poor energy performance, and only about 1% are renovated each year. These numbers are why we call for faster and deeper renovation.
We have put them on one page with their sources, so they are easy to check and quote. They all come from the European Commission and Eurostat, and each one links to the page or dataset where it is published.
Energy use in buildings
- 40%
- of the energy consumed in the EU is used in buildings
- Source: European Commission, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 50%
- of the EU’s gas consumption is used in buildings
- Source: European Commission, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 57%
- of the EU’s energy was imported in 2024
- Source: Eurostat, energy imports dependency (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 26%
- of the EU’s final energy consumption was used by households in 2024
- Source: Eurostat, energy consumption in households (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 61.5%
- of the energy used in EU homes went on space heating in 2024, and 15.6% on water heating
- Source: Eurostat, energy consumption in households (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
The building stock
- 85%
- of EU buildings were built before 2000
- Source: European Commission, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 75%
- of EU buildings have poor energy performance
- Source: European Commission, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 1%
- of buildings undergo energy renovation each year
- Source: European Commission, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
Energy poverty and housing quality
- 8.8%
- of people in the EU could not keep their home adequately warm in 2025
- Source: Eurostat, EU-SILC (ilc_mdes01) (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 7%
- of people in the EU were in arrears on their utility bills in 2025
- Source: Eurostat, EU-SILC (ilc_mdes07) (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 15.6%
- of people in the EU lived in a home with a leaking roof, damp walls, floors or foundation, or rot in window frames or floor in 2023
- Source: Eurostat, EU-SILC (ilc_mdho01) (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
What the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requires
- 16%
- cut in the average primary energy use of residential buildings by 2030, and 20-22% by 2035, with at least 55% of the cut coming from renovating the worst-performing buildings
- Source: Directive (EU) 2024/1275, Article 9 (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 16%
- of the worst-performing non-residential buildings renovated by 2030, and 26% by 2033
- Source: Directive (EU) 2024/1275, Article 9 (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 2030
- all new buildings must be zero-emission buildings from 1 January 2030, and new buildings owned by public bodies from 1 January 2028
- Source: Directive (EU) 2024/1275, Article 7 (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 2026
- Member States had to transpose the directive by 29 May 2026 and must submit their final national building renovation plans by 31 December 2026
- Source: European Commission, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
Financing renovation
- €242bn
- is needed every year from 2021 to 2030 for energy efficiency in buildings: €180 billion for homes and €62 billion for non-residential buildings
- Source: European Commission, Report on Energy Efficiency Financing in Europe, March 2026 (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- €170bn
- a year is missing between the investment the 2030 targets need and the roughly €200 billion a year invested from 2021 to 2023
- Source: European Commission, March 2026, based on IEA estimates (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- 15%
- of the investment needed is covered by public money, EU and national together: about €53 billion a year
- Source: European Commission, March 2026 (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
- €79.4bn
- from the Recovery and Resilience Facility went to energy efficiency in buildings, and the facility closes at the end of 2026
- Source: European Commission, March 2026 (opens in a new tab)Link to this figure
Where the data comes from
Database
The Commission’s data on the EU building stock by country: energy consumption, renovation rates, energy performance certificates. Country factsheets too.
Statistics
Eurostat: energy poverty indicators
Inability to keep the home adequately warm, arrears on utility bills and housing quality, by country and year, from the EU-SILC survey.
Indicators
The Commission’s centre of expertise on energy poverty: EU and national indicators, country fiches and publications.
Portal
The European portal for energy efficiency and renewable energy in buildings: publications, case studies and tools. Run by CINEA for the Commission.
Directive
Directive (EU) 2024/1275 on the energy performance of buildings (recast)
The full text on EUR-Lex. Transposition deadline 29 May 2026.
Citing these figures
Please cite the original source given under each figure. To send a reader to one figure on this page, use its “Link to this figure”.