Energy dependency rate in Czechia 2019-2022, by country
The energy dependency rate of Czechia fluctuated in the observed period depending on the country. In 2022, its dependency on Russia amounted to 20.4 percent. It was followed by Poland at 6.7 percent and Germany at 4.5 percent.
Energy imports
Energy dependency is the proportion of energy a country must import to secure its energy supply. Thus, Czechia imported over a fourth of its energy from Russia in 2021, signaling a high-energy dependency. In 2022, Czechia imported over 5.2 million metric tons of natural gas from Russia. The second-largest natural gas exporter to Czechia was Norway, with an export of over 1.1 million metric tons, making the difference between the two exporters considerable.
Russia was also the largest exporter of crude oil to Czechia, which imported nearly 4.2 million metric tons of crude oil from Russia in 2022. The second-largest crude oil export to Czechia that year was Azerbaijan, which amounted to 1.7 million metric tons of crude oil, followed by Kazakhstan. This also explains why Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan placed high among the countries where Czechia was the most energy dependent.
Regarding coal, the dependence shifts towards Czechia’s neighboring countries. Poland was the most important exporter of coal, coke, and briquette to Czechia. In 2022, Czechia imported nearly 3.5 million metric tons of coal, coke, and briquettes from Poland, making it Czechia‘s most essential trade partner regarding these commodities.
Germany was the largest exporter of electricity to Czechia, which imported over 4.3 terawatt hours from its Western neighbor, followed by Austria and Poland.
Dependency in EU comparison
Czechia’s energy dependence had increased since its establishment in 1993, when only 15.84 percent of the country’s energy supply had to be imported. This share rose to 40 percent in 2021. Although this figure seems rather high, Czechia remained one of the countries that are under the average of the EU in energy dependency, which has been constantly moving around figures over 50 percent, even reaching over 60 percent in 2019.