5.5 million people were unable to heat adequately in 2022
Millions of people in Germany were unable to afford a sufficiently warm home last year according to their own assessment. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 5.5 million people lived in households that were unable to keep their house or apartment adequately warm for financial reasons.
This would affect around 6.6 percent of the population. Compared to 2021 (3.3 percent), the proportion has doubled, reported the authority in Wiesbaden. "The main reason for the increase is likely to have been the higher energy prices in connection with the war in Ukraine."
The figures are based on the EU-wide survey on income and living conditions (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, EU-SILC). The assessment of the appropriateness of heating is at the discretion of the respondents, the statisticians explained. There were no restrictions such as a temperature corridor in the survey. Around 74,000 people in Germany took part in the survey.
People in single-parent households were particularly frequently affected: A good 14 percent of them stated that they were unable to heat their home adequately due to a lack of money. People in households consisting of two adults and at least three children (9.7 percent) and people living alone (7.3 percent) were also affected more frequently than average.
However, with a population share of 6.6%, Germany is well below the EU average: In the European Union, around 9.3 percent of the population felt they were financially unable to keep their home adequately warm in 2022, compared to 6.9 percent in 2021.
People in Bulgaria were the most likely to say they were unable to heat their home adequately: A good one in five (22.5 percent) were affected there. This was followed by Cyprus (19.2) and Greece (18.7). The lowest proportion was in Finland (1.4 percent), Luxembourg (2.1 percent) and Slovenia (2.6 percent).
- The higher energy prices due to the Ukraine war have likely contributed to the doubling of people unable to adequately heat their homes in Germany, as mentioned by the Federal Statistical Office.
- Living expenses for consumers, including energy costs, have significantly increased, leading some living in Ukraine war-impacted countries like Germany to struggle with heating their homes adequately, as shown in the EU-SILC survey.
- In light of the energy crisis resulting from the Ukraine war, countries like Germany have seen a surge in living consumers unable to maintain a comfortable living environment due to rising energy prices.
Source: www.dpa.com
