In the past four months, EU countries have reduced the consumption of natural gas by 20 percent, in an attempt to adapt to the energy crisis, Eurostat, the statistics agency of the Union, announced today.

Taken as a whole, the figure is higher than the voluntary 15 percent target that European Union member states signed up to in August.

Finland led the way in reducing gas consumption by 53 percent between August and November, compared to the average consumption for that period between 2017 and 2021, Eurostat said. All but two EU countries showed a decline, with major economies Germany and France reducing the amount of gas used by 25 percent and 20 percent, respectively, over the period.

Malta and Slovakia showed an increase in gas consumption of less than 10 percent during those four months. Cyprus is the only EU country that does not use natural gas.