BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 21. Natural gas demand in Eurasia is projected to rise by nearly 1% in 2025, largely supported by stronger industrial activity and increased power sector use, according to the latest outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Trend reports.
This comes despite a notable decline in gas consumption during the 2024/25 heating season, when usage dropped by about 3% year-on-year due to mild winter conditions, particularly in Russia.
The warmer-than-usual winter reduced the need for space heating and led to lower consumption for district heating in Russia, the region’s largest gas consumer. As a result, Russian gas production fell by 1%, or 3 bcm, between October 2024 and February 2025. While output increased in late 2024, production dropped by nearly 10 bcm in January and February alone due to weaker domestic demand and reduced exports following the halt of pipeline transit to the European Union via Ukraine.
In Central Asia, gas production also trended downward. Combined output in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan fell by around 5% year-on-year during the October-February period. In contrast, Azerbaijan saw a 5.5% increase in gas production, or roughly 0.9 bcm, driven largely by growing export volumes.
Globally, natural gas demand growth is expected to slow to around 1.5% in 2025 amid broader macroeconomic uncertainty, the IEA notes, signaling a more tempered outlook for the sector despite regional rebounds.