ANKARA

Turkey's natural gas consumption decreased year-on-year by 8.28 percent to around 48.9 billion cubic meters in 2018, according to official figures from Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) on Thursday.

Turkey's natural gas consumption declined because of the consistent above-average temperatures in the first half of 2018.

The country's natural gas consumption saw a record high in 2017 with 53.85 billion cubic meters.

In January 2018, the country also broke a record in natural gas imports, exceeding 6 billion cubic meters for the first time on a monthly basis. This was due to reduced production at hydropower plants, which was compensated by higher production in gas-fired plants.

Turkey's natural gas imports also decreased by 8.85 percent to 50.36 billion cubic meters in 2018 from 55.25 billion cubic meters in 2017.

The country exported 673 million cubic meters of gas in 2018 - an increase of 6.76 percent compared to 2017.

Last year, Turkey also produced 428 million cubic meters of gas, an increase of 20.90 percent compared to the previous year.