Net electricity imports in Ireland
Ireland: Net electricity imports was 6.69 terawatt-hours in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Net electricity imports 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 terawatt-hours.
Analysis
The most recent figure for net electricity imports in Ireland is 6.69 terawatt-hours, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of up 32.2% on the previous year and up 898.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, net electricity imports in Ireland peaked at 6.69 terawatt-hours in 2025 and was at its lowest, -0.71 terawatt-hours, in 2016.
That places Ireland 16th out of 214 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Net electricity imports in Ireland, year by year
| Year | terawatt-hours | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1991 | 0 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1992 | 0 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1993 | 0 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1994 | 0 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1995 | -0.02 terawatt-hours | — |
| 1996 | -0.13 terawatt-hours | +550.0% |
| 1997 | -0.01 terawatt-hours | -92.3% |
| 1998 | 0.08 terawatt-hours | -900.0% |
| 1999 | 0.24 terawatt-hours | +200.0% |
| 2000 | 0.1 terawatt-hours | -58.3% |
| 2001 | -0.25 terawatt-hours | -350.0% |
| 2002 | 0.5 terawatt-hours | -300.0% |
| 2003 | 1.17 terawatt-hours | +134.0% |
| 2004 | 1.57 terawatt-hours | +34.2% |
| 2005 | 2.04 terawatt-hours | +29.9% |
| 2006 | 1.78 terawatt-hours | -12.7% |
| 2007 | 1.33 terawatt-hours | -25.3% |
| 2008 | 0.45 terawatt-hours | -66.2% |
| 2009 | 0.76 terawatt-hours | +68.9% |
| 2010 | 0.47 terawatt-hours | -38.2% |
| 2011 | 0.49 terawatt-hours | +4.3% |
| 2012 | 0.41 terawatt-hours | -16.3% |
| 2013 | 2.24 terawatt-hours | +446.3% |
| 2014 | 2.15 terawatt-hours | -4.0% |
| 2015 | 0.67 terawatt-hours | -68.8% |
| 2016 | -0.71 terawatt-hours | -206.0% |
| 2017 | -0.68 terawatt-hours | -4.2% |
| 2018 | -0.03 terawatt-hours | -95.6% |
| 2019 | 0.64 terawatt-hours | -2233.3% |
| 2020 | -0.15 terawatt-hours | -123.4% |
| 2021 | 1.59 terawatt-hours | -1160.0% |
| 2022 | 0.25 terawatt-hours | -84.3% |
| 2023 | 3.27 terawatt-hours | +1208.0% |
| 2024 | 5.06 terawatt-hours | +54.7% |
| 2025 | 6.69 terawatt-hours | +32.2% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 6.69 terawatt-hours is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.1 terawatt-hours, 66.9× the median. (51 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Net electricity imports 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 | +2233.3% | -0.03 terawatt-hours | 0.64 terawatt-hours |
| 2023 | +1208.0% | 0.25 terawatt-hours | 3.27 terawatt-hours |
| 2021 | +1160.0% | -0.15 terawatt-hours | 1.59 terawatt-hours |
| 1998 | +900.0% | -0.01 terawatt-hours | 0.08 terawatt-hours |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.016 terawatt-hours | -0.13 terawatt-hours | 0.24 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.945 terawatt-hours | -0.25 terawatt-hours | 2.04 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.565 terawatt-hours | -0.71 terawatt-hours | 2.24 terawatt-hours | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.79 terawatt-hours | -0.15 terawatt-hours | 6.69 terawatt-hours | 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 in Ireland?
- Net electricity imports in Ireland was 6.69 terawatt-hours 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 recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 6.69 terawatt-hours in 2025.
- What is the lowest net electricity imports recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.71 terawatt-hours in 2016.
- How does Ireland rank for net electricity imports?
- Ireland ranks 16th out of 214 countries with data for 2025.
- Is net electricity imports rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 898.5%. 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. 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 in terawatt-hours.