When money is tight and energy is expensive, many people save on heat. According to the Federal Statistical Office, many households in Germany did not heat their apartments and houses adequately in 2022.
A warm home is not a given for many people in times of high energy prices: Last year, 5.5 million people in Germany lived in households that, according to their own assessment, were unable to keep their house or apartment adequately warm due to a lack of money. That corresponds to around 6.6 percent of the population, as the Federal Statistical Office announced.
“The share has doubled compared to 2021,” it said. “The reason for the increase was probably the higher energy prices in connection with the war in Ukraine.”
Single parents were particularly affected: around 14.1 percent of them stated that they were unable to heat their apartment adequately due to lack of money. People in households of two adults and at least three children (9.7 percent) and people living alone (7.3 percent) were also affected at an above-average rate.
Below average in European comparison
However, with a population share of 6.6 percent, Germany is still well below the EU average: In the European Union (EU) last year, around 9.3 percent of the population reported that they were financially unable to afford adequate housing to keep warm. The proportion also increased across the EU compared to 2021, when it was 6.9 percent.
Bulgarian residents most often stated that they were unable to adequately heat their living space: one in five (22.5 percent) were affected. This was followed by Cyprus (19.2 percent) and Greece (18.7 percent). The proportion was lowest in Finland (1.4 percent), as well as in Luxembourg (2.1 percent) and Slovenia (2.6 percent).
Assessment of heating at the discretion of the respondents
The information is the results of European Community statistics on income and living conditions. Households’ self-assessment of adequate home heating is one of the criteria for measuring material and social deprivation.
The statisticians explained that the assessment of the appropriateness of heating was at the discretion of those surveyed. There were no restrictions such as a temperature corridor during the survey. Around 74,000 people took part in Germany.