Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of GDP is represented by energy use; and what proportion of GDP is estimated to be represented by energy use by (1) 2030, (2) 2040, and (3) 2050, if their current climate change policies are enacted.

UK expenditure on energy including imports was approximately £150bn (including taxes) or £113bn (excluding taxes, duties and levies) in 2017[1]. As a direct share, this is 5-7% of GDP depending on the inclusion of taxes, duties and levies. The Government is working to continue to improve energy efficiency across the economy in order to deliver affordable, clean and secure energy – the amount of energy used per unit of GDP has already fallen by 49% since 1990, and we are independently assessed as leading the G20 in cutting emissions while growing the economy since 2000. Our ambitious plans and policies to mitigate against the threat of climate change are set out in the Clean Growth Strategy.

The Government publishes projections of the future volume of energy use based on current and planned policies under a range of sensitivities from now to 2035. The most recent projections can be found on Gov.uk.

[1] Table 1.4 Digest of UK Energy Statistics (copy attached)