Four years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, households are still paying roughly 21 percent more for energy than in the pre‑war year, according to an analysis by the comparison portal Verivox that the Funke‑Media Group newspapers reported on Saturday.
For a model three‑person household the total annual spending on heating, electricity and fuel in February 2026 comes to €4,977. In 2021 the same bundle cost €4,121, an increase of €856.
Heating costs have risen most sharply. Current oil prices are about 29 percent higher than before the crisis; households buying 20 hectoliters pay €1,849 per year, compared with €1,428 in 2021. Gas heating has also become pricier: with an annual consumption of 20,000 kWh, costs climb from €1,329 to €1,988 – a rise of roughly 50 percent. Because more households now heat with gas than with oil, overall heating expenses have increased by 43 percent.
Fuel prices at pumps reflect the burden too. According to Verivox’s data, gasoline is about 15 percent more expensive than in 2021, diesel about 24 percent higher. On average motorists are paying 17 percent more for fuel than they did before the energy crisis.
Electricity, by contrast, remains largely stable. A yearly consumption of 4,000 kWh yields a bill that has risen only from €1,229 to €1,244. Those on the cheapest tariff, however, end up paying roughly 13 percent less than before the crisis.
Thorsten Storck, Verivox’s energy expert, explains that a massive federal subsidy for national grid fees and falling wholesale prices have led to electricity prices falling by just under a quarter since their 2022 peak. “A return to pre‑war levels for gas and fuels is not foreseeable; the sharply increased CO₂ price has made fossil energy noticeably more expensive”.
The analysis is based on a three‑person household that needs 20,000 kWh of heat, uses 4,000 kWh of electricity, and drives 13,300 km per year. Heating‑oil prices come from the German Federal Statistical Office and “Esyoil” while fuel prices are drawn from the ADAC and “Clevertanker” data as of 17 February 2026.
