In 2022, the energy intensity of the economy was 4.4 MJ/€, a decrease of 4.5% compared to 2021. This marks the lowest value in the available series, following five consecutive years of decline. This trend reflects a 2.0% increase in energy use, which was lower than the real growth of GDP (+6.8%).

The energy intensity of households  followed the same trend, reducing by 4.0%. This was due to a smaller increase in household energy consumption (+1.5%) compared to the growth in private consumption (+5.6%).

Electricity generation from renewable sources decreased by 6.1%, primarily due to lower water availability (- 45.1%). The contribution of renewable energy to electricity production was 51.0% (the second-highest value for the 2000-2021 period, surpassed only by 2021 with 52.9%). This resulted from the combined effect of phasing out coal use—following the closure in 2021 of Portugal's last two coal-fired power plants—and an increased reliance on renewable sources, notably solar energy, which grew by 38.7% in 2022.

In 2021, the latest year for which EU data is available, Portugal was the Member State with the third-lowest energy intensity of the economy.