The share of coal in total EU electricity production fell to a historic low of 9.2 per cent in 2025, according to official data released by Eurostat on Thursday.

The figures mark a continuation of a multi-decade energy transition across the European Union, after coal’s share of power generation dropped below 10 per cent for the first time in 2024.

During 2025, hard coal generated 3.7 per cent of the bloc’s gross electricity output, representing 105,601 gigawatt-hours, while brown coal accounted for 5.5 per cent, or 154,186 gigawatt-hours.

The decline marks a dramatic shift from 1990, when coal accounted for more than a third of all electricity produced across EU member states.

By 2000, coal’s total contribution to the electricity grid had slipped to 30.4 per cent, maintaining a steady downward trajectory punctuated only by brief rebounds during 2011 to 2012 and 2021 to 2022.

The changing fuel mix has also altered the ranking of primary energy sources used for power generation across Europe.

In 1990, hard coal and brown coal stood as the second and third largest sources of European power generation, providing 19.8 per cent and 15.3 per cent of total output respectively.

By contrast, hard coal and brown coal slipped to seventh and sixth position respectively by 2025, falling behind nuclear heat, natural gas and renewable energy sources.

Nuclear heat overtook both forms of coal in the power generation hierarchy in 1994, while natural gas bypassed them in 2019.

Hydroelectric power and wind energy both surpassed coal output in 2023, with solar power following suit in 2024.

The drop in electricity generation coincided with record lows in overall fossil fuel extraction and usage across the continent.

European consumption of hard coal fell to an estimated historic low of 107 million tonnes in 2025, while brown coal consumption reached a new low of 184 million tonnes.

The trend has been driven by national policy choices across individual member states aiming to phase out fossil fuels entirely from power and heat generation.

Portugal ceased using hard coal for electricity generation in 2021, while Slovakia halted brown coal production in 2024.

Following those moves, only eight EU member states continued to produce brown coal by 2025.