More than 15% of the Portuguese population I couldn’t, in 2024, keep the house warm, according to the latest Eurostat datareleased this Monday, February 2nd, what leaves Portugal is among the countries with the worst results in this energy poverty indicator across the European Union. The value (15.7%), however, represents a significant improvement compared to 2023, when the percentage was 20,8% – a reduction of 5.1 percentage points which is the largest among EU countries in the space of one year.
At European level, the situation has generally improved. In 2024, 9.2% of the European Union population failed to keep the house warm enough1.4 percentage points less than in the previous year. Still, disparities between countries continue to be pronounced.
Portugal appears in a group where countries from southern and eastern Europe predominate. The highest values were recorded in Greece and Bulgaria (both with 19.0%), followed by Lithuania (18.0%) and Spain (17.5%), the four countries that are worse than Portugal in this regard. In contrast, countries in northern and central Europe have much lower levels, such as Switzerland (0.7%), Norway (2.2%), Finland (2.7%), Poland and Slovenia (3.3%), or Estonia and Luxembourg (3.6%)..
Energy poverty in Portugal is usually associated with factors such as low income, poorly insulated housing and old buildings, in a context in which energy prices remain high for many families. Data released by Eurostat show that, although Portugal is recovering, thermal comfort remains far from being within the reach of a significant part of the population.
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