Following a strong increase of 2.8% in 2024, global gas demand growth slowed significantly in 2025 amid weaker industrial activity and relatively high spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices in the first half of the year. Demand increased by 1% in 2025, translating to an increase of around 40 bcm (or 1.4 EJ) in absolute terms. Incremental demand was largely concentrated in the United States and the European Union – where it was supported by colder winter weather – and in the Middle East, where gas use in the power sector grew rapidly offsetting oil use. By contrast, demand in the Asia Pacific region effectively flatlined, with growth at its lowest level since the 2022 energy crisis.

The contribution of the buildings sector to growth in natural gas demand increased sharply in 2025, reaching almost 70%. By contrast, the industrial and power sectors, which together accounted for around 65% of incremental gas demand in 2024, saw much weaker growth. Industry demand stayed flat, while gas-fired power generation rose only slightly. A number of factors lay behind these shifts.

Total gas demand in buildings rose by around 3%. This increase was largely concentrated in the European Union and the United States, where colder winter weather resulted in higher space heating needs across the residential and services sectors.

Global gas demand in the power sector grew by less than 1% in 2025. In the United States, higher natural gas prices supported gas-to-coal switching for electricity generation. In the Asia Pacific region, high spot LNG prices in the first half of the year, together with continued renewables growth and improving nuclear availability, slowed growth in gas use for power. In contrast, in the European Union, gas-to-power demand grew strongly amid higher electricity consumption and lower power output from wind and hydro. In Brazil, lower hydropower availability supported a strong increase in gas-based power generation. In the Middle East, continued oil-to-gas switching supported strong growth in gas use in the power sector.

Gas use in industry remained broadly flat in 2025. In the European Union, higher natural gas prices depressed gas demand in industry. Similarly, high LNG spot prices in the first half of the year moderated industrial gas demand in the Asia Pacific region and supported fuel switching in sub-sectors such as oil refining.

Natural gas demand trends varied across key regions in 2025, with macroeconomics, price dynamics and weather factors driving consumption trends. In the United States, natural gas consumption increased by just over 1%, primarily driven by colder winter temperatures. Combined heating degree days in the first and fourth quarters of the year increased by nearly 9% compared with 2024, which drove up natural gas use in the buildings sector by around 9%. In contrast, natural gas demand from the US power sector declined by around 3.5% in 2025 amid stronger renewable power output and price-driven gas-to-coal switching. Henry Hub spot prices rose by 60% in 2025 compared with their previous year’s levels, weakening the competitiveness of gas-fired power generation against coal-fired plants. Natural gas demand in industry and the energy sector increased by around 1%, partly supported by stronger gas use by the country’s growing LNG liquefaction fleet.

Natural gas use in the European Union rose by around 3% in 2025, its strongest increase since 2021. The power sector drove higher gas use, with stronger electricity demand, together with weaker wind and hydropower output, supporting an increase of nearly 8% in gas-based electricity generation. In addition, colder weather supported higher gas use in buildings in the first quarter of the year. In contrast, higher natural gas prices weighed on gas use in industry in 2025.

In the Asia Pacific region, natural gas demand in 2025 remained flat at 2024 levels. China’s natural gas demand grew by around 2% in 2025, marking a clear slowdown compared with the 7% increase it saw in 2024. Weaker industrial activity and the rapid expansion of renewable electricity generation limited the prospects for natural gas demand growth. In Japan, natural gas demand declined by almost 1%, partly due to lower gas use in the power sector amid a continued recovery in nuclear power generation. India’s natural gas use declined by 3.5% in 2025, with gas demand for power generation falling by almost 10% in 2025 amid strong renewables growth and milder weather.

Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, Thailand’s natural gas consumption fell by 4% in 2025, primarily driven by steep declines in power sector gas use. Pakistan’s natural gas consumption fell by around 8%, largely driven by weaker gas burn in the power sector amid rapid solar growth. In contrast, natural gas demand in Bangladesh grew by an estimated 4% in 2025, primarily supported by industry.

Natural gas demand in the Middle East grew by an estimated 2.5%, driven by oil-to-gas switching in the power sector and the region’s expanding gas-intensive industries. Saudi Arabia was the largest contributor to this growth, with the country’s gas consumption rising by around 6% amid stronger gas burn in the power sector.

Natural gas demand remained broadly flat in Central and South America in 2025. In Brazil, primary gas supply rose by 12% in 2025 on the back of rising domestic gas output and lower hydropower generation. This increase in Brazil was largely offset by declines recorded elsewhere in the region, including Argentina (-2%) and Colombia (-20%) amid improving hydropower output.

In the Russian Federation (hereafter, “Russia”), natural gas demand fell by an estimated 3%. This decline was largely concentrated in the first quarter of 2025, when milder winter temperatures reduced gas use by buildings and gas-based district heating. A weaker macroeconomic environment also weighed on gas use in industry and the power sector.