Europe has a tough winter ahead. Without Russian natural gas, the bloc has a shortage of energy. This has ratcheted up heating bills, and as we’ve already seen, it’s households bearing the brunt of the costs. In the UK alone, one in three households are expected to be pushed into energy poverty this winter.
However, as Statista's Anna Fleck details below, even before the energy crisis began, having a sufficiently heated home was not a given for everyone. In the European Union, nearly seven percent of the population was not able to heat their home properly in 2021.
As Statista's graph, based on Eurostat data, shows, the country most affected by fuel poverty was Bulgaria, where nearly one in four people (23.7 percent) were affected last year, followed by Lithuania (22.5 percent) and Cyprus (19.4 percent).
You will find more infographics at Statista
The lowest rates were recorded in Switzerland (0.2 percent) and Norway (0.8 percent). By contrast, countries in southern Europe showed a higher share of people unable to heat their homes properly in 2021.
The European average was 6.9 percent. When data for 2022 comes out, we can expect these figures to be worse.
By Zerohedge.com
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In fact, the EU is heading towards de-industrialization with factories shutting down or downsizing or relocating outside Europe.
It was very telling when the German conglomerate BASF, the symbol of German industrial prowess, announced its decision to permanently downsize inside Germany and expand in China. And when you add a harsh recession to the equation one can imagine the suffering of the EU. Some of these businesses might choose to eventually relocate to a place with cheaper and more widely available sources of energy thus contributing to the deindustrialization process in Europe
The ultimate loser in the current energy crisis is the EU not Russia. Russia is shifting the bulk of its gas supplies from the EU to China and the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, Russia is now building the Spirit of Siberia 2 to quench the thirst of China for gas.
Even after the Ukraine conflict is settled, Russia might be disinclined to resume gas supplies to the EU since it now has far bigger gas markets to satisfy.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert