Around 25.2% of gross final energy consumption in the European Union in 2024 came from renewable sources, according to Eurostat data — an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to 2023. Despite the progress, the value is 17.3 pp below the revised target for 2030, set at 42.5% by the community directive on the promotion of renewables.
The annual progression is therefore insufficient in relation to the objective: to achieve the community target, the EU will have to increase the share of renewables by more than 17 percentage points over a six-year horizon, requiring a significant acceleration of investments and support policies.
By Member States, Sweden led with 62.8% of energy consumption coming from renewable sources — mainly solid biomass, hydroelectricity and wind power — followed by Finland (52.1%) and Denmark (46.8%), which also rely on biomass, wind and biogas. At the opposite extremes come Belgium (14.3%), Luxembourg (14.7%) and Ireland (16.1%), with the lowest shares of renewables.
Portugal positioned itself in the first third of the table, in seventh place, with 36.3% of gross final energy consumption ensured by renewable sources, above the EU average but still far from the target of 42.5%.
The European directive raised the target for 2030 from 32% to 42.5% (with an indicative target of increasing it to 45%), so Member States will have to intensify measures — including expansion of renewable capacity, energy efficiency and network modernization — to reduce the current gap and meet community climate commitments.