The UK government’s Department for Energy Security has published the 2026 edition of the National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework (NEED) consumption data tables. The release provides detailed statistics on electricity and gas use across England, Wales, and Scotland, broken down by a range of property and household characteristics.
The dataset spans residential energy consumption across three nations, offering figures segmented by factors such as property type, age, household income, and number of adults.
What the 2026 NEED publication contains
The 2026 NEED release carries accredited official statistics status, granted by the UK Statistics Authority — a designation placing it among the most rigorously verified data the UK government produces. The Department for Energy Security is responsible for its production and release.
The publication covers residential electricity and gas consumption across England, Wales, and Scotland, breaking that consumption down by property characteristics — including age and type — alongside household factors such as number of adults and income level.
This is not a single table. Six distinct types are included: headline consumption tables, additional consumption tables, local authority tables, multiple attributes tables, new build energy consumption tables, and gas consumption per square metre tables. Each serves a different analytical purpose, giving users flexibility depending on what they need to examine.
Why the data was compiled and published
The NEED framework exists to support evidence-based energy efficiency policymaking across the UK. Before designing effective interventions, policymakers need to understand which types of homes and households consume the most energy — and this dataset makes those patterns visible in a structured, comparable format.
Linking consumption figures to property and household characteristics is central to that goal. It allows government analysts and independent researchers to determine, for example, whether older detached homes consume significantly more gas than newer terraced properties, or whether low-income households show different electricity use patterns than higher-income ones.
Tracking new-build properties separately adds another layer of value. Assessors can monitor whether newer homes — built under more recent building regulations — actually consume less energy than older stock. That comparison helps evaluate whether regulatory changes are delivering measurable results over time.
Gas consumption per square metre data addresses a separate problem. Homes vary considerably in size, and raw consumption figures can be misleading; reporting consumption relative to floor area allows for fairer comparisons between property types and across geographic areas.
Key data breakdowns and geographic coverage
The local authority tables are among the most geographically granular elements of the release. They provide mean and median gas and electricity consumption figures for each local authority across England and Wales, segmented by property and household characteristics — detail that allows local governments and regional analysts to benchmark their areas against others.
The multiple attributes tables go further, cross-referencing combinations of property and household attributes simultaneously rather than examining one characteristic at a time. That approach supports deeper analysis — for instance, examining how income level and property age interact to shape energy consumption patterns.
New build energy consumption tables cover England, Wales, and Scotland, reporting mean and median gas and electricity usage by year of build. Researchers gain a time-series perspective on how construction vintages relate to actual consumption in practice.
The gas per square metre tables have a narrower geographic scope, covering houses in England and Wales only. Both per-household and per-square-metre figures are reported, broken down by property and household characteristics. Scotland is not included in this particular table type.
Background: the NEED framework and its role in UK energy policy
The National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework is a recurring official statistics publication that tracks residential energy consumption trends over time, giving policymakers a consistent evidence base to draw on across successive editions.
The framework draws on meter-level consumption data and links it to property attributes sourced from records held by the Valuation Office Agency, as well as census data. That linkage is what makes segmented analysis possible — raw meter readings alone would not reveal the household or property characteristics behind the numbers.
The data informs programs aimed at improving energy efficiency, including retrofitting schemes targeted at low-income households. Knowing which segments consume the most energy, and why, helps direct limited funding toward the interventions most likely to have measurable impact.
Accredited official statistics status means the publication meets the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics, which covers trustworthiness, quality, and value. For anyone using the tables to inform policy or research decisions, that accreditation provides meaningful assurance the data has been produced and released to a defined professional standard.
