A review on energy security indices to compare country performances

The use of energy security indices has been increasing recently, as indicator-based approaches are particularly suitable to model multiple dimensions and compare countries. Moreover, indices represent effective communication tools for policymakers. This paper analyzes 63 indices quantifying the energy security performance of countries. In particular, their scope, geographical coverage, number of countries analyzed, time frame covered, number of indicators considered, data treatment approach, multivariate analysis, normalization, weighting and aggregation of the indicators, and the assessment of uncertainty, sensitivity and robustness are reviewed. Results show that there is a considerable lack of transparency, especially about the selection of the indicator set, normalization method, indicator weighting scheme and aggregation function. Furthermore, the index construction steps of data treatment and multivariate analysis are either not performed or under-reported. Finally, only few studies provide an uncertainty, sensitivity or robustness analysis, even though such an analysis has the potential to greatly improve the confidence into the results. Based on the findings of this paper, research gaps are identified and recommendations for future research provided. Even though the present analysis was conducted on energy security, the findings can be applied to indices in any field in order to support well-informed decision-making.