In the first half of 2026, private households in Germany paid an average of 11.58 cents per kilowatt-hour for natural gas. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Wednesday, this represented a 5.3 percent drop in gas prices compared to the second half of 2025. Furthermore, prices were 4.5 percent lower than they were during the first half of 2025. However, when compared to the first half of 2021-a period before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the escalating energy crisis-gas prices for private households have risen by a substantial 80.7 percent.
In the electricity market, consumers paid an average of 37.97 cents per kilowatt-hour in the first half of 2026. This figure reflected a decrease of 6.4 percent compared to H2 2025, and a 4.9 percent decrease relative to H1 2025. Despite these drops, electricity costs are still 16.4 percent higher than they were in H1 2021.
For private households, electricity prices fell across all consumption groups in the first six months of 2026 when measured against the second half of 2025. Reduced network charges, benefiting from state subsidies provided to grid operators, were a key factor in this decline. Specifically, customers with low annual consumption (under 1,000 kilowatt-hours) paid 57.99 cents per kilowatt-hour, a 2.5 percent decrease from H2 2025. In contrast, heavy consumers (those using over 15,000 kilowatt-hours annually) benefited even more, paying 30.55 cents per kilowatt-hour, which was 6.9 percent less than the previous period.
The reduction in gas prices for private households in H1 2026 compared to H2 2025 applied across all user categories, partially thanks to the discontinuation of the gas storage fee. Households with annual consumption under 20 Gigajoules paid 15.17 cents per kilowatt-hour, down 6.1 percent from H2 2025. Conversely, those consuming over 200 Gigajoules annually paid 10.92 cents per kilowatt-hour, a reduction of 3.5 percent.
In the industrial and commercial sector, the picture is more complex. Non-households, such as businesses and public authorities, paid an average of 6.29 cents per kilowatt-hour for natural gas (excluding VAT and deductible taxes) in H1 2026. This represented a 1.8 percent increase over H2 2025, indicating that the initial effects of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz are beginning to impact non-household consumers. Compared to H1 2025, non-household gas prices dropped by 6.8 percent. Looking at the longer-term trend back to H1 2021, though, gas prices for non-households are 106.2 percent higher overall.
Gas prices for non-households varied depending on yearly consumption. For moderate users, those consuming between 1,000 and 10,000 Gigajoules, H1 2026 saw a decrease of 5.7 percent compared to H2 2025 and 5.6 percent compared to H1 2025. Still, this was 100.2 percent more expensive than in H1 2021. For large-scale consumers with over 4 million Gigajoules of yearly consumption, gas cost 4.61 cents per kilowatt-hour-a 2.0 percent increase from H2 2025, but a 13.0 percent decrease from H1 2025. Relative to H1 2021, these large users paid 83.7 percent more for gas.
Regarding electricity, non-households reported preliminary average costs of 17.64 cents per kilowatt-hour in H1 2026 (before VAT and deductible taxes). This was cheaper than H2 2025 by 8.3 percent and cheaper than H1 2025 by 8.7 percent. Yet, they remain 18.4 percent more expensive than in H1 2021. For businesses with relatively small annual consumption (between 20 and 500 Megawatt-hours), the preliminary cost in H1 2026 was 23.66 cents per kilowatt-hour. This represented a 9.6 percent lower average price compared to H2 2025, though 15.8 percent higher than in H1 2021. For very high consumers (over 150,000 Megawatt-hours annually), electricity preliminary cost 12.67 cents per kilowatt-hour, which was 3.1 percent less than H2 2025 but 43.7 percent higher than H1 2021. Destatis noted that the planned industrial electricity price could not yet be incorporated into the H1 2026 survey, meaning these figures for the non-household electricity sector are only preliminary.
