South Korea's energy consumption grew at a sharply slower pace in 2022 than in previous years mainly due to limited transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic and lower demand from households, the industry ministry said Wednesday.
The country's overall energy consumption stood at 230 million tons of oil equivalent in 2022, edging up 0.5 percent from the corresponding tally for 2019, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
South Korea has been conducting a national energy survey every three years since 1980.
The increase rate for 2022 was far below the average growth rate of 3.9 percent.
The slow growth of energy consumption can be attributed to travel restrictions during the pandemic and lower demand from households sparked by the population decline and the increase of single-person households, according to the ministry.
Energy consumption for transportation shrank 0.6 percent on average per annum between 2019 and 2022, and household energy consumption decreased 0.4 percent on a yearly average.
On the other hand, industrial use of energy, which accounts for the largest part of total energy consumption, posted an average growth of 0.8 percent per year over the same period.
Commercial use of energy grew at an annual average of 2.1 percent over the cited period as the country suffered more cold waves and heat waves amid climate change.
By type, the use of petroleum, electricity and heat energy went up by 0.6 percent, 1.8 percent and 8.3 percent from 2019, respectively accounting for 51.7 percent, 21.3 percent and 4.3 percent of total consumption in 2022.
On the other hand, use of coal and gas went down by 1.9 percent and 2.2 percent to take up 12.1 percent and 10.6 percent of total consumption, respectively. (Yonhap)
