Dutch households and industry used 25% less gas in the final three months of 2022 than during the final quarter of 2021, national statistics agency CBS said on Monday.

In total, gas usage fell to 31 billion cubic metres, the lowest volume since 1972, the CBS said.

In particular, the oil and chemicals industry cut their gas use by 25%, while power stations which use gas to generate electricity used 12% less.

Some of the reduction was due to factory closures because of soaring gas prices, but at the same time, industrial production did manage to increase, CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen said.

Households too used 25% less gas, because of soaring gas prices. The warmer weather played a role in this and corrected for higher temperatures, domestic gas use was down 15% on 2021, the CBS said.