In this work, an analysis is being done on the concept of energy and exergy utilization and an application to the residential and industrial sector of Greece. The energy and exergy flows over the period from 1990 to 2004 were taken into consideration. This period was chosen based on the data reliability. The energy and exergy efficiencies are calculated for the residential and industrial sectors and compared to the findings of a previous study concerning the exergy efficiency of the Greek transport sector. The residential energy and exergy efficiencies for the year 2003 were 22.36% and 20.92%, respectively, whereas the industrial energy and exergy efficiencies for the same year were 53.72% and 51.34%, respectively. The analysis of energy and exergy utilization determines the efficiency of the economy as a whole. The results can play an important role in the establishment of efficiency standards of the energy use in various economy sectors. These standards could be utilized by energy policy makers. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.