Contents
- Hydrogen use by industry statistics: global demand, established uses and low-emissions hydrogen
- Hydrogen use by industry statistics: refinery consumption and country shares
- Hydrogen use by industry statistics: European demand and sector trends
- Hydrogen use by industry statistics: European country consumption by industrial use
- Hydrogen use by industry statistics: ammonia and methanol consumption
- Hydrogen use by industry statistics: U.S. industrial use, production and purchase prices
- Sources
Hydrogen use by industry statistics: global demand, established uses and low-emissions hydrogen
Hydrogen demand is large, but its industrial profile is easier to understand when established uses are kept separate from newer applications. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that global demand reached almost 100 Mt in 2024. Demand for new applications—including new industrial uses, mobility, power and synthetic fuels—was still less than 1% of global demand. The figures describe a market dominated by existing uses, while the newer categories were growing from a small base. Source: IEA, Demand – Global Hydrogen Review 2025
The 2025 figures show a further increase in the global total. The IEA reported that demand grew almost 3% and surpassed 100 Mt in 2025. Low-emissions hydrogen demand reached close to 1 Mt after growing by 20% that year. The 2024 review had described low-emissions hydrogen use as having increased by nearly 10% in 2024, while remaining below 1% of total hydrogen demand. These are distinct annual observations: growth in the low-emissions segment did not yet change its small share of the overall market. Sources: IEA, Demand – Global Hydrogen Review 2025; IEA, Demand – Global Hydrogen Review 2026](https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2026/demand)
The IEA also tracks commercial commitments, which should not be read as actual consumption. New offtake agreements for low-emissions hydrogen reached 1.7 Mtpa in 2025, the same volume as in 2024. Procurement tenders included more than 1 Mtpa in 2025. As of Q1 2026, more than 0.3 Mtpa had been contracted, with progress mostly in refining and fertilisers. Agreements, tender volumes and contracted supply measure market activity at different stages; none is interchangeable with measured hydrogen use. Source: IEA, Demand – Global Hydrogen Review 2026
The IEA’s 2030 figure is a project-based estimate, not a record of future consumption. Projects that had at least reached final investment decision were expected to produce and consume 2.5 Mt in refineries and industrial facilities by 2030. It is a forward-looking estimate tied to a defined project status, rather than a general forecast of all hydrogen demand. Source: IEA, Demand – Global Hydrogen Review 2026
| Global indicator | Measured or reported value | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Total hydrogen demand | Almost 100 Mt | Global, 2024 |
| Total hydrogen demand | Surpassed 100 Mt; grew almost 3% | Global, 2025 |
| Low-emissions hydrogen demand | Close to 1 Mt; growth of 20% | Global, 2025 |
| New low-emissions hydrogen offtake agreements | 1.7 Mtpa | Global, 2024 and 2025 |
Sources: IEA, Demand – Global Hydrogen Review 2025; IEA, Demand – Global Hydrogen Review 2026](https://www.iea.org/reports/global-hydrogen-review-2026/demand)
Hydrogen use by industry statistics: refinery consumption and country shares
Refining is a major established use in Europe. By the end of 2024, more than 70 refineries in Europe consumed approximately 4.53 Mt of hydrogen. The report’s country assessment identified Germany as accounting for 16% of European refinery hydrogen consumption, Spain for 11%, Italy for 10% and the Netherlands for 10%. These percentages refer specifically to refinery hydrogen consumption, not to each country’s entire hydrogen use. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 23
| Country | Share of European refinery hydrogen consumption |
|---|---|
| Germany | 16% |
| Spain | 11% |
| Italy | 10% |
| Netherlands | 10% |
Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 23
The sector’s prominence varies by country. In the report’s 2024 country assessment, more than 90% of hydrogen consumption in Italy, Greece and Denmark was concentrated in oil refining. This statement describes the distribution of hydrogen use within each named country; it is different from the country shares above, which compare countries’ portions of European refinery consumption. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 23
Hydrogen use by industry statistics: European demand and sector trends
For the EU, EFTA and UK combined, hydrogen demand was 7.8 Mt/year in 2024, compared with 7.9 Mt/year in 2023. The 2024 level was described as a slight 1% decrease from 2023 and almost 15% below 2020. These figures apply to the report’s combined regional scope and should not be treated as the EU alone. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 22
Refining accounted for 58% of total hydrogen demand in this European scope in 2024. Ammonia production represented 25%. The sector shares show the weight of these two established uses in reported regional demand; the remaining share is not broken down here into additional categories. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 22
The report also records a longer-term change in ammonia: hydrogen use in European ammonia production dropped by 36% compared with 2020. That comparison concerns ammonia production, not total European demand. Outside industry, transport demand remained small in the same review, at around 6,800 tonnes in 2024, up from 5,000 tonnes in 2023. The report’s description of limited non-industrial use is consistent with transport’s small quantities relative to the Mt-scale industrial measures, while the units and scopes remain distinct. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 22
Hydrogen use by industry statistics: European country consumption by industrial use
ACER’s country table provides 2024 consumption values in Mt for selected EU Member States with hydrogen demand higher than 100 kt. Its categories distinguish total consumption from end uses such as refining, ammonia, methanol and other chemicals. The table below presents the complete set of checked country and category observations available for these countries; it does not represent all EU Member States or the wider EU, EFTA and UK scope used for the regional demand figures above. Source: ACER, Total hydrogen consumption by end use in the EU Member States – 2022–2024 (Mt)
| Country | Total consumption (Mt) | Refining (Mt) | Ammonia (Mt) | Methanol (Mt) | Other chemicals (Mt) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1.49 | 0.73 | 0.33 | 0.11 | 0.14 |
| Spain | 0.62 | 0.51 | — | — | — |
| France | 0.56 | 0.34 | — | — | — |
| Austria | 0.13 | — | — | — | — |
| Belgium | 0.39 | — | — | — | — |
| Netherlands | 1.05 | — | — | — | — |
Source: ACER, Total hydrogen consumption by end use in the EU Member States – 2022–2024 (Mt)
Germany’s total in the table was 1.49 Mt, including 0.73 Mt for refining, 0.33 Mt for ammonia, 0.11 Mt for methanol and 0.14 Mt for other chemicals. Spain’s total was 0.62 Mt, of which 0.51 Mt was refining. France recorded 0.56 Mt total and 0.34 Mt for refining. The available observations show refining as a substantial listed use in all three cases, while only Germany has checked values here for the additional named chemical categories. Source: ACER, Total hydrogen consumption by end use in the EU Member States – 2022–2024 (Mt)
The other reported country totals were 1.05 Mt in the Netherlands, 0.39 Mt in Belgium and 0.13 Mt in Austria. These country totals are useful reference points, but comparing them with the European refinery shares requires care: the ACER figures are total country consumption in Mt, whereas the Hydrogen Europe percentages describe each country’s share of European refinery use. ACER’s table is based on European Hydrogen Observatory data and excludes Member States at or below the stated 100 kt demand threshold. Source: ACER, Total hydrogen consumption by end use in the EU Member States – 2022–2024 (Mt)
Hydrogen use by industry statistics: ammonia and methanol consumption
Ammonia production is a large hydrogen-consuming activity in Europe. Hydrogen Europe reported that European plants consumed around 1.98 Mt of hydrogen for ammonia production in its 2024 assessment. The Netherlands represented 19% of European ammonia production, Germany 17% and Poland 16%. These country percentages describe ammonia output, while 1.98 Mt describes hydrogen consumed by the plants; the measures have different denominators. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 23
A separate end-use overview describes around 35 ammonia production facilities in Europe, generating approximately 11 MtNH3/year and consuming approximately 2 Mt/year of hydrogen. It also reports an additional 2–2.5 MtNH3/year of ammonia imports. The production and import measures refer to ammonia, while the hydrogen figure refers to feedstock use; they should not be added together or read as the same commodity. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 72
The report says announced clean ammonia projects could consume about 2.2 Mt/year of hydrogen by 2030. This is a project-based future possibility, not observed consumption. It sits alongside the report’s approximately 2 Mt/year estimate for existing ammonia production, but the two figures describe different statuses and time frames. Source: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 72
Methanol production used 0.16 Mt of hydrogen in the European 2024 assessment. Production was concentrated: Germany accounted for 68% of European methanol output and Norway for 28%. The ACER table separately lists 0.11 Mt of hydrogen consumption for methanol in Germany in 2024. These two hydrogen quantities come from different reported datasets and scopes, so they should be presented as separate measures rather than treated as a reconciled total. Sources: Hydrogen Europe, Clean Hydrogen Monitor 2025, p. 23; ACER, Total hydrogen consumption by end use in the EU Member States – 2022–2024 (Mt)](https://aegis.acer.europa.eu/chest/dataitems/978/view)
Hydrogen use by industry statistics: U.S. industrial use, production and purchase prices
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that total U.S. hydrogen production was 10 million metric tons in 2018. Petroleum refiners used 68% of all U.S. hydrogen production in that context, and nitrogenous fertilizer industries, including ammonia and derivatives, used 21%. The percentages are shares of production used by the named industries, not shares of a separately measured national consumption total. Source: EIA, U.S. refiners and chemical manufacturers lead hydrogen production and consumption
Of U.S. production in 2018, 40% was merchant hydrogen sold by industrial gas companies. This describes the production channel, not an end-use sector. Taken together with the refinery and fertilizer figures, it illustrates why production, sales and industrial use should be kept distinct when reading hydrogen statistics. Source: EIA, U.S. refiners and chemical manufacturers lead hydrogen production and consumption
EIA’s purchase-price measures are narrower still: they are average prices for hydrogen bought by manufacturing establishments for use in on-site operations, drawn from the 2018 Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey. The chemicals subsector paid an average $6.18 per MMBtu, while petroleum and coal products paid $6.77 per MMBtu. Across all U.S. manufacturing industries, the reported average purchase price was $6.82 per MMBtu. Source: EIA, U.S. refiners and chemical manufacturers lead hydrogen production and consumption
The highest average price reported among manufacturing industries was $86.19 per MMBtu, paid by manufacturers of electrical equipment, appliances and components. This is an industry-level purchased-hydrogen price for on-site operations, not a general market price or the cost of producing hydrogen. All of these price figures are from 2018 and should be read as historical survey measures, not current quotations. Source: EIA, U.S. refiners and chemical manufacturers lead hydrogen production and consumption