Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as natural gas, methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, or coal gas (sometimes called town gas). The light is produced either directly by the flame, generally by using special mixes (typically propane or butane) of illuminating gas to increase brightness, or indirectly with other components such as the gas mantle or the limelight, with the gas primarily functioning to heat the mantle or the lime to incandescence.

Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas lighting was prevalent for outdoor and indoor use in cities and suburbs where the infrastructure for distribution of gas was practical. At that time, the most common fuels for gas lighting were wood gas, coal gas and, in limited cases, water gas. Early gas lights were ignited manually by lamplighters, although many later designs are self-igniting.

Some urban historical districts retain gas street lighting, and gas lighting is used indoors or outdoors to create or preserve a nostalgic effect.

Prior to use of gaseous fuels for lighting, the early lighting fuels consisted of olive oil, beeswax, fish oil, whale oil, sesame oil, nut oil, or other similar substances, which were all liquid fuels. These were the most commonly used fuels until the late 18th century. Whale oil was especially widely used for lighting in European cities such as London through the early 19th century.

Chinese records dating back 1,700 years indicate the use of natural gas in homes for lighting and heating. The natural gas was transported by means of bamboo pipes to homes.^{[additional citation(s) needed]}

Public illumination preceded by centuries the development and widespread adoption of gas lighting. In 1417, Sir Henry Barton, Lord Mayor of London, ordained "Lanthornes with lights to bee hanged out on the Winter evening betwixt Hallowtide and Candlemassee." Paris was first illuminated by an order issued in 1524, and, in the beginning of the 16th century, the inhabitants were ordered to keep lights burning in the windows of all houses that faced streets. In 1668, when some regulations were made for improving the streets of London, the residents were reminded to hang out their lanterns at the usual time, and, in 1690, an order was issued to hang out a light, or lamp, every night at nightfall, from Michaelmas to Christmas. By an Act of the Common Council in 1716, all housekeepers, whose houses faced any street, lane, or passage, were required to hang out, every dark night, one or more lights, to burn from six to eleven o'clock, under the penalty of one shilling as a fine for failing to do so.

Accumulating and escaping gases were known originally among coal miners for their adverse effects rather than their useful characteristics. Coal miners described two types of gases, one called the choke damp and the other fire damp. In 1667, a paper detailing the effects of these gases was entitled, "A Description of a Well and Earth in Lancashire taking Fire, by a Candle approaching to it. Imparted by Thomas Shirley, Esq an eye-witness."

British clergyman and scientist Stephen Hales experimented with the actual distillation of coal, thereby obtaining a flammable liquid. He reported his results in the first volume of his Vegetable Statics, published in 1726. From the distillation of "one hundred and fifty-eight grains [10.2 g] of Newcastle coal, he stated that he obtained 180 cubic inches [2.9 L] of gas, which weighed 51 grains [3.3 g], being nearly one third of the whole." Hales's results garnered attention decades later as the unique chemical properties of various gases became understood through the work of Joseph Black, Henry Cavendish, Alessandro Volta, and others.