Different price drivers

Overall, the energy costs for a model household in December 2020 were 3,429 euros per year. In January 2021, the same amount of energy already cost 3,665 euros. This corresponds to a price increase of 6.9 percent (236 euros) within a month, reports the comparison portal. Heating oil rose by 12 percent on a monthly basis. The cost of gas rose by around ten percent and consumers had to spend 10.2 percent more on gasoline in January. Electricity went up by 0.5 percent, provided that the increase in VAT is factored out. "The main price drivers were the expiry of the temporary VAT reduction, the introduction of the CO2 price and wholesale prices, which initially plummeted in the wake of the corona pandemic and are now picking up again," says Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox.

methodology

The Verivox energy cost index determines the energy costs for a German model household. The costs for heating, electricity and mobility are taken into account in a quantity-weighted manner. The basis is a three-person model household with an annual heat requirement of 20,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), electricity consumption of 4,000 kWh and an annual mileage of 13,300 kilometers.