Press release No. 151 of 17 April 2023

WIESBADEN – As reported by the Federal Statistical Office, the average household price for natural gas was 9.34 cent per kilowatt-hour in the second half year 2022. The average household electricity price in the second half year 2022 was 34.96 cent per kilowatt-hour. Compared to the first half of the year of 2022, gas prices rose by 16.2% whereas electricity prices increased by 4.4%.

Natural gas and electricity prices develop inconsistently for private households

The rise in wholesale energy costs for natural gas was also clearly felt by households in the second half of 2022. However, prices for private households with a low annual consumption of less than 20 gigajoules rose less strongly (+5.3%) than for households with a higher consumption. Customers with a consumption of 20 to under 200 gigajoules paid 9.41 cents per kilowatt hour, 16.7% more than in the 1^st half of 2022. The costs for energy and distribution increased by 47.8% on average for all households. The prices take into account the temporary reduction of the VAT rate as well as the December emergency aid for natural gas.

Electricity prices for private households rose by +4.4%, less than natural gas prices, despite a sharp rise in energy procurement costs compared to 1^st half of 2022. Households with an annual consumption of more than 15 000 kilowatt hours paid 29.38 cents per kilowatt hour, 8.7% more than in the first half of the year. On the other hand, households with an annual consumption of 2 500 to under 5 000 kilowatt hours paid 33.57 cents per kilowatt hour, only 2.4% more than in the first half of the year. The costs for energy and distribution increased by 39.3% on average for all households. By contrast, taxes, levies and charges fell by 24.7% due to the elimination of the EEG levy.

 

Household electricity and gas prices in cent per kWh

Annual consumption from … to less than …	2nd half year 2022				1st half year 2022
	total price	energy and supply	network costs	taxes, fees, levies and charges	total price
natural gas
less than 20 GJ	11.87	7.17	2.34	2.36	11.27
20 GJ – 200 GJ	9.41	6.02	1.39	2.01	8.06
200 GJ and more	8.38	5.30	1.04	2.05	7.53
overall	9.34	5.94	1.37	2.03	8.04
electricity
less than 1 000 kWh	51.64	21.19	17.11	13.34	47.95
1 000 kWh – 2 500 kWh	37.38	16.51	9.86	11.01	36.43
2 500 kWh – 5 000 kWh	33.57	15.21	8.12	10.24	32.79
5 000 kWh – 15 000 kWh	30.42	14.28	6.65	9.50	29.94
15 000 kWh and more	29.38	14.45	5.71	9.22	27.03
overall	34.96	15.75	8.76	10.45	33.50

Large price increases for natural gas non-household customers

The average natural gas price for non-households (for example, enterprises or public offices) without value added taxes (VAT) and other recoverable taxes was 8.06 cent per kilowatt-hour. This was 25.3% more than in the first half year of 2022. Non-household customers with a low annual consumption of under 1 000 gigajoules had to pay 7.36 cents per kilowatt hour, which was 17.4% more than in the previous six months. Many non-households with a low annual consumption benefited from the December emergency aid. Customers with a consumption of over 4 million gigajoules, on the other hand, paid 33.1% more than in the 1^st half of the year and, at 11.33 cents per kilowatt hour, even significantly more than smaller consumers.

Non-household customers paid an average of 20.74 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity in the second half year of 2022, excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes. Electricity was thus 4.4% more expensive for these consumers than in the 1^st half of 2022. The price increases for electricity were significantly higher for large consumers than for those with lower annual consumption. Customers with over 150 000 megawatt hours of annual consumption paid 18% more than in the first half of the year. Customers with an annual consumption of less than 20 megawatt hours per year only had to pay 2.3% more on average. Customers with an annual consumption of 20 to less than 500 megawatt hours and with a consumption of 500 to less than 2 000 megawatt hours even paid less than in the first half of the year, with prices falling by 3.4% and 3.7% respectively.

Non-household electricity and gas prices without VAT and other recoverable taxes in cent per kWh

Annual consumption from … to less than …	2nd half year 2022				1st half year 2022
	total price	energy and supply	network costs	taxes, fees, levies and charges	total price
natural gas
less than 1 000 GJ	7.36	4.99	1.26	1.11	6.27
1 000 GJ – 10 000 GJ	6.55	4.51	0.99	1.05	5.54
10 000 GJ – 100 000 GJ	6.13	4.59	0.61	0.93	5.33
100 000 GJ – 1 000 000 GJ	7.03	5.94	0.34	0.75	5.54
1 000 000 GJ – 4 000 000 GJ	9.19	8.47	0.18	0.54	6.54
4 000 000 GJ and more	11.33	10.62	0.16	0.55	8.51
overall	8.06	6.79	0.50	0.77	6.43
electricity
less than 20 MWh	27.02	14.30	8.01	4.71	26.40
20 MWh - 500 MWh	20.99	12.82	5.94	2.23	21.74
500 MWh – 2 000 MWh	19.86	13.08	4.74	2.04	20.63
2 000 MWh – 20 000 MWh	19.46	13.88	3.42	2.16	19.25
20 000 MWh - 70 000 MWh	19.90	15.01	2.43	2.46	18.19
70 000 MWh – 150 000 MWh	19.70	15.70	1.59	2.41	17.18
150 000 MWh and more	21.98	17.91	1.45	2.62	18.62
overall	20.74	14.62	3.68	2.44	19.86