Net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland
Ireland: Net electricity imports as a share of demand was 17.8% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland, 1990–2025
Source: Ember (2026); Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy of the UK (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland is 17.8%, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 26.9% on the previous year and up 664.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland peaked at 17.8% in 2025 and was at its lowest, -2.4%, in 2016.
Ireland ranks 28th of 213 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.0% | — |
| 1991 | 0.0% | — |
| 1992 | 0.0% | — |
| 1993 | 0.0% | — |
| 1994 | 0.0% | — |
| 1995 | -0.1% | — |
| 1996 | -0.7% | +508.7% |
| 1997 | -0.1% | -92.7% |
| 1998 | 0.4% | -850.7% |
| 1999 | 1.1% | +185.9% |
| 2000 | 0.4% | -61.4% |
| 2001 | -1.0% | -343.7% |
| 2002 | 2.0% | -292.4% |
| 2003 | 4.5% | +127.7% |
| 2004 | 5.9% | +30.3% |
| 2005 | 7.4% | +25.8% |
| 2006 | 6.2% | -16.5% |
| 2007 | 4.5% | -27.3% |
| 2008 | 1.5% | -66.9% |
| 2009 | 2.6% | +78.5% |
| 2010 | 1.6% | -37.9% |
| 2011 | 1.8% | +7.8% |
| 2012 | 1.5% | -16.0% |
| 2013 | 8.0% | +440.7% |
| 2014 | 7.7% | -4.5% |
| 2015 | 2.3% | -69.7% |
| 2016 | -2.4% | -203.2% |
| 2017 | -2.3% | -5.9% |
| 2018 | -0.1% | -95.7% |
| 2019 | 2.0% | -2199.5% |
| 2020 | -0.5% | -123.1% |
| 2021 | 4.8% | -1118.0% |
| 2022 | 0.7% | -84.6% |
| 2023 | 9.4% | +1178.7% |
| 2024 | 14.0% | +49.1% |
| 2025 | 17.8% | +26.9% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 17.8% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.2%, 109.7× the median. (51 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | +2199.5% | -0.1% | 2.0% |
| 2023 | +1178.7% | 0.7% | 9.4% |
| 2021 | +1118.0% | -0.5% | 4.8% |
| 1998 | +850.7% | -0.1% | 0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.1% | -0.7% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.4% | -1.0% | 7.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.0% | -2.4% | 8.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.7% | -0.5% | 17.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More energy & mining data for Ireland
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate -1.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Fuel imports 6.2% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland?
- Net electricity imports as a share of demand in Ireland was 17.8% in 2025, according to Ember (2026); Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy of the UK (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest net electricity imports as a share of demand recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 17.8% in 2025.
- What is the lowest net electricity imports as a share of demand recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was -2.4% in 2016.
- How does Ireland rank for net electricity imports as a share of demand?
- Ireland ranks 28th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is net electricity imports as a share of demand rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 664.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Ember (2026); Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy of the UK (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Net electricity imports as a share of demand. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Electricity imports minus exports, measured as a percentage of total electricity demand in the country or region.