The smart electricity meter penetration rate in Europe reached 60 per cent at the end of 2023, according to Berg Insight.

More than six in ten electricity customers in the EU27+3 countries had a smart meter at the end of 2023. The market is set for stable growth with a total of more than 88 million smart electricity meters forecasted to be deployed across the region from 2024 to 2028.

This latest study (media.berginsight.com/2024/02/16191446/bi-sm18-ps.pdf) of the European smart metering market from Berg Insight has closely tracked the development on this market since the company’s founding in 2004. At the end of 2023, the EU27+3 region was home to more than 186 million smart electricity meters.

Growing at a steady CAGR north of 6.1 per cent, the installed base of smart electricity meters is expected to reach a penetration rate of 78 per cent by 2028, driven by second-generation rollouts in countries such as the UK, Italy, Spain and Sweden alongside first-generation projects in Germany, Poland and Greece.

The smart gas metering market is also set for robust growth in the EU27+3 region where the installed base of devices is forecasted to increase from 56 million units in 2023 to around 78 million units by 2028.

The composition of smart electricity shipment volumes is anticipated to change in two important ways, indicating a focus shift away from western European markets that have historically been at the forefront in terms of smart metering deployments.

“First-generation electricity meter shipment volumes will account for 67 per cent of total shipment volumes throughout the forecast period, as second-generation rollouts in western Europe are by now either in their final stages or fully completed,” said Mattias Carlsson, IoT analyst at Berg Insight. “Secondly, the share of first-generation shipment volumes to countries located in the CEE and SEE regions will increase from 50 per cent in 2022 to 80 per cent in 2028.”.

In the last years, the smart metering market has also undergone a shift related to the type of communications technologies being used for data exchange with the utility’s back office. Standalone wireless connectivity options have grown considerably in popularity in the past years and will account for between 55 and 65 per cent of annual shipment volumes throughout the forecast period.

“Most of the growth is attributable to 3GPP-based LPWA connectivity options, which are now available in most European markets,” said Carlsson. “Annual shipments of NB-IoT and LTE-M electricity meters are forecasted to be at a level of 3.5 to 4.0 million per year during the forecast period.”