Eurostat’s electricity graph and how we’ve become comfortably numb

A graph published recently by Eurostat on electricity consumption in households showed Malta as an exceptional outlier.

Electricity consumed by Maltese households in 2024, increased by a whopping 66% when compared to 2015. The next highest increase was in Estonia, which clocked in at 36%, followed by Slovenia at 33%.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, electricity consumed by households saw the largest decreases in Luxembourg (-11%), Belgium (-10%) and Sweden (-7%) over the same period.

Malta’s impressive increase in household electricity consumption merits scrutiny because it sums up the country’s story over the past decade or so. It is a story of increased affluence, unbridled population growth and extravagance.

A Central Bank of Malta study released last March, the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), showed that median household net wealth rose from €194,000 in 2010 to more than €376,000 in 2023. The increase was more pronounced after 2014 although the same survey found big disparities on how this wealth was distributed.

Undoubtedly, wealthier households are likely to invest more in energy consuming appliances. Additionally, against the backdrop of stable electricity prices disconnected from market realities, despite the increased affluence, the level of investment in energy-efficient households remains questionable.

However, a much bigger contributor is very likely to be the massive growth in population that occurred during the same timespan as a result of foreign workers.

Malta’s population stood at 574,250 at the end of 2024, according to the National Statistics Office. It has since risen to 588,254 by the end of 2025.

In 2015, the base year used in the Eurostat electricity statistics, Malta’s population stood at 443,764. This means that between 2015 and 2024, Malta’s population surged by 130,486 in just nine years.

These people were not living in caves. They rented accommodation; they consumed electricity at their place of residence; they placed greater demands on the electricity distribution network until this started to buckle in 2023. The latest critical outage in Gozo is testament to the network’s inability to keep up with population and economic growth.

But there is also a third cause for the abnormal surge in electricity usage by households, which many, especially politicians, are unwilling to talk about. Maltese households have been paying the same price for electricity since 2014—first having benefitted from a fixed price agreement between the government and Electrogas and afterwards from energy subsidies introduced when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Maltese consumers have been shielded from world tribulations that saw oil and gas prices shoot up, leading to higher electricity prices for households in many countries. This detachment from world realities has lulled everyone into a false sense of security.

The increased affluence coupled with the tomorrow-never-comes attitude that was allowed to take root and massaged by politicians, has led to wastefulness.

Of course, families have benefitted immensely from subsidies that ensured stability but without a concerted national effort to push for responsible use of electricity, consumers have grown complacent.

The problem is that the government appears unwilling to lead by example. When Prime Minister Robert Abela was asked earlier this summer in the midst of several power outages about expert advice to set AC temperatures at 25°C or 26°C to help ease pressure on the electricity grid, he simply glossed over the idea. “I will definitely not shift the blame for these last hours onto the people.” he replied. It was only when pressed that he acknowledged the advice was good.

Of course, people should not be blamed for government’s lack of investment in the distribution network. Of course, temperatures are rising and heatwaves are lasting longer, prompting more energy use. But the reluctance by government ministers to inject some sobriety into the debate is irresponsible. It is almost a sin to argue for responsible use of electricity because it shatters the picture of unfettered extravagance.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has already told us energy subsidies this year could cost the country €230 million. It will probably be higher if international oil and gas prices continue to rise.

So far, Malta can afford the subsidy but at some point, something will have to give—road projects could take longer to complete, planned green projects will never start, election promises will be postponed or introduced gradually, public spending will flow less willingly. But with no hint of moderation in government discourse, people will fail to see why they should adjust their behaviour.

The Eurostat graph represents prosperity, growth and the stark truth that we have become comfortably numb to world reality. And that is not a good recipe to have.