LIVE Europe is cooking right now
The Europe AC Index · 2026 edition
The Europe AC Index.
One table. Every country graded on the single cheapest thing that keeps people alive in a heatwave: a cooled room. Ranked from least air-conditioned to most. Built on public data.
AC is not a crime.
| # | Country | AC adoption | Grade | 2026 toll | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 5% | F | 2,364† | 34 |
| 2 | Poland | 8% | F | 768 | 21 |
| 3 | Germany | 19% | D | 3,610 | 43 |
| 4 | France | 25% | D | 5,194 | 75 |
| 5 | Romania | 32% | D | 4,197 | 220 |
| 6 | Spain | 41% | C | 9,138 | 186 |
| 7 | Italy | 56% | B | 17,719 | 301 |
| 8 | Greece | 70% | B | 5,102 | 492 |
Grade reflects household air-conditioning adoption (IEA, Statista, Daikin). Toll is the projected summer 2026 heat deaths; per million uses national population. Sorted least cooled first. For reference: the United States air-conditions ~90% of homes, Singapore ~99%. † United Kingdom sits outside the ISGlobal 32-country dataset, so its toll is a model estimate.
What the Index shows
Three findings.
No A.
Not one European country scores an A. The best adapter, Greece, cools 70% of homes. The United States does 90%, Singapore 99%.
F and D
The United Kingdom and Germany, two of Europe's richest economies per person, grade F and D. Wealth is not the constraint.
3×
Germany out-earns Italy per head, and air-conditions a third as many homes (19% versus 56%). The gap is a choice, not a budget.