LNG Imports

• By Region

Asia is the leading importing region. The largest Asian LNG importers are China, Japan, South Korea, India and Taiwan.  In 2021, Asia imported 272.5 MT, accounting for 73.2% of global LNG imports.

The Asian continent is currently driving demand growth, notably led by growth of LNG imports into China, which has overtaken Japan as the largest LNG importer.  

In 2021, Europe imported 75.05 MT of LNG.  The main importing countries in 2021 where Spain, France and the United Kingdom. Europe is a residual market for LNG and has acted during the past years as a balancing market. LNG imports into Europe are usually triggered by price differentials between Asia and European markets.

In 2021, America, driven by Brazil, Chile and Argentina  imported 17.97 MT, and the Middle East and Africa imported a combined 6.76 MT.

• Source by Basin

In 2021 the Pacific Basin accounted for 143.87 MT with 38.6% of global LNG supply, the Atlantic Basin 135.23 MT and the Middle East 93.19 MT.

While the Pacific Basin remains the largest source of LNG supplies, as production from the US continues to increase, the
gap between supply from the Pacific Basin and the Atlantic Basin has substantially narrowed from 28.8 MT in 2020 to only 8.6 MT in 2021.