Household energy costs in Germany experienced fluctuating trends during the first half of 2025, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
Private households paid an average of 12.13 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for natural gas, a slight decrease of 1.2 percent compared to the second half of 2024. However, this figure represents a 2.2 percent increase from the first half of 2024 and remains significantly higher – 77.6 percent above – the levels observed in the second half of 2021, prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of the energy crisis.
Electricity costs for households averaged 39.92 cents per kWh, down 3.1 percent compared to the second half of 2024. This also represents a decrease of 2.7 percent compared to the first half of 2024, but remains 21.4 percent higher than in the second half of 2021.
The burden from taxes, levies and charges increased for both gas and electricity consumers. Natural gas faced a 5.8 percent rise driven by adjustments to the gas storage levy and the CO2 tax. For electricity, the increase was 7.2 percent. However, overall energy and distribution costs for private households did decrease – by 9.2 percent when compared to the first half of 2024.
For non-household consumers, including businesses and authorities, the average price for natural gas was 6.75 cents per kWh, up 6.3 percent compared to the second half of 2024. This represents an 11.8 percent increase compared to the first half of 2024 and remains 45.8 percent above the levels of the second half of 2021.
The variation in natural gas prices for non-households depended on annual consumption. Consumers with moderate annual consumption (between 1,000 and 10,000 Gigajoules) saw a slight decrease – 0.5 percent – compared to the second half of 2024, though prices remain 93.0 percent higher than in the same period of 2021. Businesses with particularly large annual consumption (over four million Gigajoules) paid 5.30 cents per kWh, 17.5 percent more than in the second half of 2024, but still 6.7 percent lower than in the same period of 2021.
Electricity prices for non-households averaged 19.33 cents per kWh, reflecting a 5.9 percent reduction compared to the second half of 2024 but remaining 16.1 percent above the levels of the same period in 2021. Prices varied based on consumption bands. Those consuming between 20 and 500 megawatt-hours annually paid 26.36 cents per kWh, a decrease of 2.9 percent from the second half of 2024, while those with very high consumption (over 150,000 megawatt-hours) saw prices at 13.38 cents per kWh, a marginal increase of 2.1 percent compared to the second half of 2021.
