German households heavily burdened by energy costs – report

Consumers in Germany are having to pay significantly higher for heating and electricity in 2024 than before the energy crisis, the Berliner Morgenpost has reported, citing the latest study by the portal Verivox. 

According to the report, the average household is currently spending €1,534 ($1,662) per year more on electricity, fuel, and heating than in February 2021. The current figure is €5,306 versus €3,772 in February 2021 on an annualized basis, a 41% surge over the past three years, the newspaper wrote.

The Verivox analysis used an average three-person household, which consumes on average 20,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy for heating, 4,000 kWh of electricity, and drives 13,300 kilometers per year.

“Electricity, gas, heating oil and fuel: three years after the start of the energy crisis, energy is still significantly more expensive than before. Although costs have fallen by a third since their peak in October 2022, private households are still heavily burdened by high energy costs,” Thorsten Storck, an energy expert at Verivox, said.

Germany had benefited from cheap Russian energy for over two decades – deriving 40% of its gas imports from the sanctioned country – and was among the hardest hit by the reduction of Russian energy supplies. Deliveries were either significantly curtailed or entirely halted after the EU imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to the Ukraine conflict, and following the explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines.

Berlin had to ramp up electricity imports last year after the government decided to scrap nuclear power as it moves toward renewable energy. Meanwhile, experts have been raising the alarm that Germany’s reign as an industrial superpower is coming to an end as the loss of cheap Russian natural gas amid the Ukraine crisis has dealt what may be a fatal blow to manufacturers that were already struggling to remain competitive.

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