Energy consumption in data centres and broadband communication networks in the EU

Digital infrastructure - data centres and telecommunication networks - are at the heart of the digital transformation, underpinning all aspects of our increasingly digitalised and connected societies. Demand for their services is rising rapidly, raising concerns about their energy use and environmental impacts. Between 2015 and 2022, the number of internet users globally increased by 80%, internet traffic increased five-fold, while data centre workloads more than quadrupled However, energy efficiency improvements in computation, data storage, and data transmission has helped to limit energy demand growth globally. Between 2015 and 2022, data centre and network energy demand grew at a much slower pace (+2-8% CAGR) than data traffic (+24% CAGR) or data centre workloads (+33% CAGR). Data centres and data transmission networks each accounted for 1-1.5% of global electricity use globally in 2022.