The International Energy Agency or IEA has stated in a latest update that following the supply shock of 2022/23, natural gas markets moved towards a gradual rebalancing in 2024 and 2025. During this period, supply fundamentals remained tight and prices stayed well above their historic levels. This limited demand growth, especially in price-sensitive Asian markets. Around 300 billion cubic metres per year of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity is expected to be added worldwide by 2030, primarily supported by liquefaction capacity expansions in the United States and Qatar.
Following a relatively strong increase in 2024, natural gas demand growth slowed significantly in the first nine months of 2025. Preliminary data indicate that natural gas consumption increased by just around 0.5% year-on-year during this period in major markets. This growth was almost entirely driven by Europe and North America, while demand remained subdued in Asia and declined in Eurasia.
However, tighter market fundamentals have contributed to higher gas prices in key import markets, weighing on natural gas consumption, especially in price-sensitive Asian markets. For the full year of 2025, global gas demand growth is forecast to slow from 2.8% in 2024 to below 1% in 2025. Demand in the Asia Pacific region is expected to expand by less than 1% from 2024, the weakest growth since 2022.