Estonia EU's top oil importer, while Denmark demonstrates lowest oil import dependency rates

In 2017 the European Union (EU) relied on net imports for 87% of its oil consumption, Report informs citing Eurostat. This ratio, known as the oil import dependency rate, is unchanged from 2016 and two percentage points below the peak of 89% recorded in 2015.

In 18 EU Member States, the levels of net oil imports were close to their oil consumption levels, with dependency rates lying between 96% and 104%. Dependency rates above 100% indicate a build-up of oil stocks, while negative dependency rates indicate a net exporting country.

The EU Member State with the highest oil import dependency rate in 2017 was Estonia (115%). At the other end of the scale, the dependency rate for the United Kingdom was 35% and -4% for Denmark.