G7’s gas consumption stable in 2021, but sharper increase in BRICS countries.

The global gas consumption increased by 4.8% in 2021. Especially the surging Asian demand tightened the global gas balance trade and led to an unprecedented price recovery. In the United States, the largest gas consumer in the world, gas consumption remained stable (-0.6%); it has however followed an upward trend over the last decade (+2%/year over 2010-2021) due coal-to-gas switching, especially in power generation (gas consumption in power plants however decreased in 2021). Consumption rebounded in the EU (+4%) especially in Italy (+7.3%), and in producing countries such as Russia (+14.6%, record level), Egypt (+4.6%) or Brazil (+22.7%). This upwards trend was also observed in major Asian countries such as China (+12.5%, driven by industry and residential), South Korea (+8.7%) and Taiwan (+8.3%), whereas gas consumption further declined in Japan (-4.4%) mainly due to a lower demand from the power sector (lower electricity consumption and switch to nuclear and renewables).