EU energy: market shares of largest producers decreasing

According to figures from Eurostat published today, the market shares of the largest electricity and gas producers in the EU have been in general decreasing since 2007.

In 2019, the market share of the largest generator in the electricity market varied across EU Member States. The highest share was recorded in Cyprus (100%), where a single electricity company dominated national electricity production, followed by Latvia (86%) and Croatia (80%).

At the other end of the scale, the market share of the largest generator in the electricity market was less than 20% in three Member States: Luxembourg (18%), Finland (16%) and Poland (12%).

Compared with 2007, the 2019 market share of the largest generator in the electricity market was lower in the majority of EU Member States. The decline in the market share ranged from -62.6 percentage points (pp) in Malta to -1.0 pp in Hungary. In contrast, the share remained stable in Cyprus, while it increased in Romania and Latvia (4.3 pp and 0.3 pp respectively).

For natural gas import and production, the largest market share in 2019 (measured as a share of national indigenous EU production) was 100% in Estonia, Finland and Sweden, where only one entity dominated national production and imports.

In contrast, the largest natural gas import and production company had the lowest level of market penetration in Ireland (30%) and Belgium (31%).

Compared with 2007, the market share of the largest natural gas import and production company decreased in 13 Member States in 2019. Meanwhile, the share remained stable in Finland and Sweden (at 100%), whereas it increased in Ireland (1.8 pp), Lithuania (19.6 pp) and Estonia (21.0 pp).

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