Income and household energy consumption in a transition economy: The case of Uzbekistan

We scrutinize the impact of household income on energy consumption in Uzbekistan. We do so because the evidence on household energy consumption in post-socialist transition economies is scarce, while the issue is important. We use the unique nationally representative “Uzbekistan, Jobs, Skills, and Migration Survey.” Our cross-sectional analysis shows that electricity, natural gas, and other fuels (coal, firewood, animal dung and waste, and liquefied natural gas) are equally essential energy sources for households. However, based on the budget share Energy Engel Curve, our analysis shows that low and high-income households spend a larger share of their budget on electricity and natural gas consumption relative to their middle-income peers. Interestingly, we find no strong support for the relationship between income and the percentage of household income spent on the consumption of other fuels. We conjecture that these other fuels became a necessity for households to deal with unreliable gas and electricity supply. (144 words). •We examine the impact of household income on energy consumption in Uzbekistan.•Our results show that electricity, natural gas, and fuels are equally essential.•Low and high-income households spend a larger budget share on electricity and gas.•Households' budget share spent on other fuels is independent of their income level.•We identify the thresholds points at which energy share changes direction.