Luxembourg, 29/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - According to statistics published by Eurostat on 23 August, gross domestic consumption of natural gas in the European Union rose 1.8% in 2001 to a total of 384.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe). Increases in gross consumption were recorded in the following Member States: Spain (+16.2%), Luxembourg (+14.5%), Ireland (+13.0%), Sweden (+9.7%), France (+9.4%), Portugal (+7.4%), Finland (+7.3%), Denmark (+4.2%), Austria (+4.0%), the Netherlands (+1.6%) and Italy (+0.9%). Decreases in relation to 2000 were observed in Belgium (-8.6%), Greece (-1.7%), Germany (-0.6%) and the United Kingdom (-0.4%). Concerning the structure of supply, natural gas production at EU level totalled 209.3 million toe, a 0.6% decline from 2000. Of the EU's main producers, the United Kingdom decreased production by 2.1% and Italy by 7.2%. In contrast, natural gas production rose in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany by 3.4%, 2.8% and 0.4% respectively. Imports of natural gas by EU Member States totalled 228.1 million toe, a 1.2% increase.