The Federal Statistical Office has revealed that, in 2019, as many as two million people in Germany could not afford to heat their homes. Single parents and those who live alone are most frequently affected. 

2 million people in Germany left in the cold

In 2019, two million people in Germany did not have the financial resources to heat their house or apartment, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) has revealed. This corresponds to around 2,5 percent of the population. 

Demographically, single-parent households and single-person households were most often left to the mercy of the freezing weather, with 7 percent of single parents and 4,5 percent of people living alone unable to afford the utility bills to sufficiently heat their homes in 2019.

Energy poverty has declined over past decade

On the other hand, the percentage of the German population who cannot afford to heat their homes has more than halved since 2009, when 4,5 million people (5,5 percent of the population) struggled to keep warm.

The number of people suffering in Germany was also way below the EU average for 2019, which was as high as 6,9 percent across all 28 member states. Energy poverty was most common among people in Bulgaria (30,1 percent), Lithuania (26,7 percent) and Cyprus (21,0 percent). The share was lowest in Sweden, Austria and Finland, where less than 2 percent cannot afford heating bills.