Advertisement

German electricity prices 'among the highest in the world'

The Local Germany
The Local Germany - [email protected]
German electricity prices 'among the highest in the world'
The cost of electricity is expensive in Germany. Photo: DPA

In Germany, electricity is now more expensive than most other countries in the world, new research has found.

Advertisement

German consumers have to spend an enormous amount of money on electricity compared to other countries. This is shown by an analysis of 126 countries carried out by the comparison portal Verivox using purchasing power-adjusted data from the energy service Global Petrol Prices.

Overall, Germany ranks 16th in the international ranking – although most of the countries with even higher electricity prices are crisis-ridden developing countries in which some people cannot afford electricity at all, reported Spiegel on Friday.

The top 10 includes countries such as Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso. The only first-world country in which electricity prices are even higher than in Germany, according to Verivox, is Portugal (ranked 13th).

Advertisement

Among the G20 countries, Germany is the country with the most expensive electricity – and by far. Even in Turkey and Italy, which follow in second and third place, electricity prices are around 10 cents cheaper when adjusted for purchasing power.

As a result, German consumers have to spend a larger proportion of their disposable income on electricity than customers in other prosperous EU countries.

READ ALSO: German electricity prices could rise by 20 percent due to coal withdrawal

According to Verivox, the annual consumption of a one-person household (1500 kilowatt hours) costs around 1.2 percent of the average per capita economic output – more than twice as much as in Sweden or the Netherlands. The per capita rate for electricity is higher than in Germany only in comparatively poorer EU countries such as Romania or Bulgaria.

Overall, electricity prices in Germany have more than doubled since the turn of the millennium. At present the kilowatt-hour in the basic supply costs on average about 32.10 cent. 

The reasons for the price increases are numerous taxes and charges such as the EEG levy or network fees. They now account for around two thirds of the electricity price.

READ ALSO: Calls to prevent power cuts in Germany's poorest households

Vocabulary

Electricity prices (die) Strompreise

More expensive - teurer

Comparatively - vergleichsweise

Annual consumption - (der) Jahresverbrauch

We're aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also