Portugal, Finland, South Korea, Belgium, Spain and Hong Kong are among major trade economies that depend solely on natural gas imports from other countries.

Global imports of natural gas reached 795 trillion cubic meters in 2005, according to April 2008 statistics from the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook.

Total world gas imports represent about 26% of overall natural gas consumption. European Union countries buy 45.5% of imported gas on international trade markets.

Countries overly reliant on natural gas imports from politically unstable countries face the risk of supply interruptions and even higher gas prices.

The following analysis presents natural gas import statistics by country.

Top Ten Natural Gas Importing Countries

The top five gas importers account for over half of overall global gas imports.

1. United States … 117.9 billion cubic meters (14.8% of estimated world total imports)

2. Germany … 87 billion cubic meters (10.9%)

3. Japan … 77.6 billion cubic meters (9.8%)

4. Italy … 70.5 billion cubic meters (8.9%)

5. Ukraine … 57.1 billion cubic meters (7.2%)

6. France … 47 billion cubic meters (5.9%)

7. Russia … 37.5 billion cubic meters (4.7%)

8. South Korea … 35.9 billion cubic meters (4.5%)

9. Spain … 31.8 billion cubic meters (4%)

10. Turkey … 25.5 billion cubic meters (3.2%).

Other Natural Gas Importing Nations

11. Netherlands … 22.1 billion cubic meters (2.8% of estimated world total imports)

12. Belarus …19.3 billion cubic meters (2.4%)

13. Belgium …17.3 billion cubic meters (2.2%)

14. United Kingdom … 15..8 billion cubic meters (2%)

15. Hungary … 11.5 billion cubic meters (1.4%)

16. Taiwan … 10.2 billion cubic meters (1.3%)

17. Poland … 10 billion cubic meters (1.3%)

18. Mexico … 9.7 billion cubic meters (1.2%)

19. Canada … 9.4 billion cubic meters (1.2%)

20. Austria … 9.1 billion cubic meters (1.1%)

21. Czech Republic … 9 billion cubic meters (1.1%)

22. Thailand … 8.5 billion cubic meters (1.1%)

23. Brazil … 8.5 billion cubic meters (1.1%)

24. Slovakia … 6.4 billion cubic meters (0.8%)

25. Singapore … 6.4 billion cubic meters (0.8%)

26. Chile … 6.2 billion cubic meters (0.8%)

27. Iran … 5.8 billion cubic meters (0.7%)

28. India … 5.8 billion cubic meters (0.7%)

29. Bulgaria … 5.2 billion cubic meters (0.7%)

30. Romania … 4.9 billion cubic meters (0.6%)

For larger natural gas importers, data is then organized by the percentage of a country’s gas imports to its national domestic consumption.

Countries Dependent on Imports for More Than 50% of Natural Gas Consumption

1. Portugal … 105.8% of natural gas consumed domestically or re-exported was imported
2. Finland … 105.5%
3. South Korea … 104.9%
4. Belgium … 104%
5. Spain … 103.9%
6. Slovakia … 102.6%
7. Bulgaria … 100% of natural gas consumed domestically was imported
8. Switzerland … 100%
9. Hong Kong … 100%
10. Lithuania … 100%
11. Sweden … 100%
12. France … 99.5%
13. Greece … 99.4%
14. Belarus … 99.2%
15. Czech Republic … 98.9%
16. Taiwan … 98.8%
17. Austria … 98.3%
18. Turkey … 97.1%
19. Singapore … 93.2%
20. Japan … 92.7%.
21. Germany … 89.8%
22. Ireland … 86%
23. Italy … 85.2%
24. Hungary … 80.1%
25. Ukraine … 77.2%
26. Chile … 76.1%
27. Poland … 64.2%.

Countries Dependent on Imports for Less Than 50% of Natural Gas Consumption

1. China … 1.8% of natural gas consumed domestically was imported
2. United Arab Emirates … 3.4%
3. Argentina … 4.3%
4. Iran … 5.9%
5. Russia … 6.1%
6. Canada … 10.1%
7. India … 16.8%
8. United Kingdom … 17.4%
9. United States … 19.5%
10. Mexico … 20.5%
11. Thailand … 27.2%
12. Romania … 28.4%
13. Azerbaijan … 44.6%
14. Netherlands … 46.2%
15. Kazakhstan … 46.4%
16. Brazil … 47.5%.