Between 2006 and 2012, gross inland energy consumption in the European Union (EU) has fallen by 8 percent, according to a statement released by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.

Over the last two decades, energy consumption in the 28-member EU which stood at 1,670 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 1990, rose to a peak of 1,830 Mtoe in 2006 and then decreased to 1,680 Mtoe in 2012.

The energy dependence rate, which shows the extent to which a country is dependent on energy imports, was 53 percent in the EU in 2012. Denmark was the only net exporter of energy and therefore had a negative dependence rate of minus 3 percent.

The five largest energy consumers in 2012 in the EU were Germany (319 Mtoe), France (258 Mtoe), Britain (202 Mtoe), Italy (163 Mtoe) and Spain (127 Mtoe).These five member states altogether accounted for 64 percent of total EU energy consumption.

Between 2006 and 2012, energy consumption fell in twenty four EU member states and increased only in Estonia (11.6 percent), the Netherlands (2.9 percent), Poland (0.8 percent) and Sweden (0.4 percent).

The largest falls were recorded in Lithuania (17 percent), Portugal (15.2), Greece (14.4 percent) and Hungary (14.2 percent). Endi