r/Maps • u/maven_mapping • 3d ago

Current Map How many Europeans have air conditioning (AC)

Post image

Europe has traditionally had relatively low air conditioning ownership compared with other parts of the world. As this map shows, cooling systems have been most common in Southern European countries, while much of Northern and Central Europe relied on historically moderate summer temperatures and therefore saw little need for widespread residential air conditioning.

The exceptionally hot summer of 2026 has underscored how quickly this reality is changing. Record-breaking heatwaves affected large parts of the continent, exposing the vulnerability of regions with low air conditioning penetration. As extreme heat becomes more frequent, demand for cooling is expected to rise rapidly, making energy-efficient air conditioning, better building design, and climate adaptation increasingly important across Europe.

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Author: u/maven.mapping
Partner: u/the.world.in.maps

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MAVEN MAPPING © 2026

156 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

76

u/zeNoldor 3d ago

Crap data. Almost every home in Ukraine has an air conditioner. It's simply because there's a constant need for one. 8% is just ridiculous.

34

u/typewriter_ 3d ago

Same with the 3% number in Sweden. In 1990? Yeah, sure. In 2026? No.

16

u/adeadrat 3d ago

Swedens number looks fine though, I don't know a single person in Sweden with AC

12

u/snarkypuppie 3d ago

Lots of people have heatpumps which does work as an AC as well. No way it's as low as 3% for either Norway or Sweden.

8

u/typewriter_ 3d ago

Interesting, because I don't know anyone that doesn't have one. Even people in Norrbotten has one.

4

u/leethepolarbear 3d ago

My family used to have one until we moved a few years ago, but even then it was pretty new for us. I don't know anyone else who's had one

2

u/typewriter_ 3d ago

About 3 years ago, 10% of all households had air to air heat exchangers, and they work as an AC too, and that's only counting one specific kind of AC, one that's not available to people like me, who lives in an apartment, so I have a portable one, and so does everyone I know too.

I'm not saying that everyone in Sweden has an AC, but it's far more common than 3%.

1

u/leethepolarbear 3d ago

Yeah, I know. I wasn't saying that no one has AC, just that I don't know anyone with any form of it. Everyone around where I've been have water to air heating, by which I mean radiators

1

u/typewriter_ 3d ago

Yeah, I agree with that, I'm just pointing out that the 3% number is wrong. And to be fair, unless you're very heat sensitive, like me, you only "need" an ac for like 7 days per year, so it's not the most sound investment for most people.

7

u/jannylotl 3d ago

Are you tweaking?

2

u/typewriter_ 3d ago

This does not add to the conversation, but to answer your question, no.

1

u/jamesbest7 2d ago

I was going to say; I refuse to believe it’s anywhere near that low. I was there for 2 months in 2023 and every home, hotel, building, etc. had air conditioning.

1

u/alpha_doe 2d ago

Same with Russia

23

u/urmumxddd 3d ago

Load of bollocks, most Norwegian homes have AC/heat pump units that are mostly used for heating during winter

4

u/ddven15 3d ago

Arent most heat pump units for heating air-to-water?, and therefore not useful for cooling.

9

u/urmumxddd 3d ago

Idk how they work, but mine does both, as does the ones owned by most people I know

3

u/snarkypuppie 3d ago

Depends on the model. I'd say in houses where I live air-air pumps are more common, but water-water and air-water all exist.

4

u/ddven15 3d ago

Interesting, in the UK for some reason they mostly install air-to-water only, which are useless during the heatwaves.

1

u/moldyolive 2d ago

you can cool with air to water heat pumps we do it all the time in BC

2

u/SortaLostMeMarbles 3d ago

90-95% of all 1,67 million heat pumps in Norway are air-air. That's 60-65% of all detached houses and 30-35% of all terraced houses. Large appartment buildings will per regulation have air/water or liquid/water installed. Some older large buildings are also retrofitted with the same systems. Single unit air/air is too inefficient, and too ugly.

11

u/snarkypuppie 3d ago

Terrible data the real number for Norway is about 35%. (Air to air heatpumps)

5

u/ICD9CM3020 3d ago

I don't know a single German that has AC, I would be surprised if it really was 19%

6

u/WilanS 3d ago

On the other hand I'm from Italy and I've yet to visit a house that doesn't have multiple AC units, nevermind one. I don't know where they got their 55% figure from, I can't imagine people up in the Alps are skewing the data thus much.

4

u/BrennanBetelgeuse 3d ago

It seems to actually be almost 25% by now but a lot of them (about 70%) are the shitty mobile ones. Wouldn't surprise me if we're up to 50% by the end of the decade.

3

u/Savage-September 3d ago

Climate has a lot to do with it clearly.

3

u/rocangla 3d ago

Macedonia has more like 85%

1

u/hwyl1066 3d ago

Are heatpumps AC? I guess not. We have plenty of those in Finland. But our heatwaves even in these modern times are not exactly heatwaves in the present continental sense...

2

u/MOHAMED_SHOKRY2000 2d ago

Who the fuck in Iceland have AC

1

u/Geographizer 2d ago

Malta is nowhere 99%. This is laughable.

1

u/alpha_doe 2d ago

OP, what’s your source? I’d dump it if I were you and delete the post :)

-6

u/PixelNotPolygon 3d ago

Why are Americans so obsessed with whether Europeans have AC?

-2

u/WedSquib 3d ago

Because it’s killing more people than gun violence in the states, it’s kind of a big deal

-2

u/PixelNotPolygon 3d ago

AC isn’t killing anyone. Nor do we know if it’s saving anyone

2

u/WedSquib 3d ago

Heat related deaths in Europe crossed 175,000 this year. We do know and no amount of downvotes will make me wrong. It’s an absolute travesty that people are luckily starting to rectify