Heat pump sales in 2025 grew by 11% across 16 European countries* on average, preliminary data from the European Heat Pump Association shows. Around 2.63 million residential heat pumps were sold, up from 2.38 million in those countries in 2024 and bringing the total installed in Europe to around 28 million.
Twelve of the 16 countries installed more heat pumps in 2025 than in 2024. This is largely due to those governments having stabilised subsidy schemes and taken action on costs, for example by reducing tax on power bills. This makes heat pumps – which use a small amount of electricity – highly competitive with fossil fuel boilers.
For example, in Belgium a combination of new restrictions on fossil fuel heating and a VAT reduction on heat pumps in new buildings has helped an increase of 7% to 111,000 units. Similarly, the UK’s continued policy support – via the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and new Warm Homes plan – has helped bring up heat pump sales by 27%, to 125,000 units.
Paul Kenny, director general of the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) commented:
“It’s government 101 that taxation is how you change behaviour. European countries need to move fast to reduce taxes on heat pumps and electricity so they become the most competitive choice. This must be consolidated through stable policies. Otherwise, Europe is still relying on fossil fuel imports from unreliable partners. The weekend’s events in Iran show the need for this more clearly than ever.
“The European Commission’s upcoming heating and cooling strategy and electrification action plan are great opportunities to encourage governments to reduce electricity tax faster, since it has a clear impact on the domestic manufacturing of both residential and industrial heat pumps,” said Kenny.
In Germany last year a record was broken as heat pumps accounted for almost half of all heat generators sold. This is due to increasing consumer confidence in the technology after the previous politicisation of heating, and the role of heat pumps in energy security.
In contrast, in Poland where there is much disinformation about heat pumps, and in France where government budgets and heat pump support were in flux, sales fell in 2025.
In terms of sales compared to the population size, the biggest markets remain Norway, Finland and Sweden with over 30 heat pumps sold per 1,000 households. The smallest are Poland and the UK with under five, showing the huge potential.
EHPA is in the process of gathering sales numbers for large heat pumps; the trend is clearly upwards, with increasing numbers of factories and district heating systems around Europe installing large heat pumps.
*The countries are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, UK
