Natural gas imports in Italy 2021, by country of origin

In 2021, Russia was the main supplier of natural gas to Italy, with over 29 billion cubic meters of natural gas exported to this country. In the same year, Italy imported 22 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Algeria. In 2021, Italy started to import from Azerbaijan, after the inauguration of the TAP gas pipeline. In 2022, after the trading restrictions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, natural gas supply to Italy from Russia decreased sensibly, to be replaced by imports from Algeria and Azerbaijan.  

Production does not match consumption

The consumption of natural gas in Italy fluctuated over time. It was over 72 billion cubic meters in 2021, while the natural gas production in Italy was only 3.2 billion cubic meters in the same year. For this reason, Italy strongly relied on gas imports from other countries.  

Natural gas energy

Natural gas is one of the primary energy sources in Italy. In 2021, it was the main source in the Italian energy mix. The consumption of energy generated from natural gas steadily increased since 2014. In 2020, the main use of natural gas in Italy was electricity production.