The selected key figures presented here focus on household customers. They will also be included in the upcoming Monitoring Report 2024 published by the Bundesnetzagentur and the Bundeskartellamt and mainly refer to the year 2023. The electricity and gas retail prices stated reflect levels on the reporting date of 1 April 2024.

Contract and supplier switching particularly attractive for household customers

The average electricity price for household customers on 1 April 2024 was 41.59 ct/kWh, around 8% less than in the previous year. The average gas price for household customers on 1 April 2024 was 12.5 ct/kWh, compared to 14.8 ct/kWh in the previous year.

Customers who had an electricity contract with a competitive supplier (ie a supplier other than the default supplier) paid an average of 39.86 ct/kWh on the reporting date, making competitive suppliers the cheapest option for consumers . In the gas sector as well, competitive suppliers offered the lowest price to gas customers at 11.3 ct/kWh. Switching supplier is therefore an easy option for saving on energy costs.

New record highs for contract and supplier switches

At present new customers in particular benefit from attractive special conditions and bonuses offered by electricity and gas suppliers. This is also reflected in the number of supplier switches. More than 6mn electricity customers changed their suppliers in 2023, representing an increase of around 50% compared to the previous year and a new all-time high in the switching rate, which amounted to about 12%. In 2022, the number of supplier switches had fallen considerably due to the volatile markets and uncertain supply situation. In addition, around three million electricity customers adjusted their contracts with their existing suppliers on their own initiative. Electricity customers were able to save around €202 per year by changing from the default supplier to a competitor. Average savings amounted to approximately €61 per year.

Among gas customers the number of supplier switches rose to 1.8mn, which also represents a new high. In the previous year only 1.15mn household customers had changed their suppliers. The switching rate amounted to 14%, while some 660,000 gas customers adjusted their existing contracts on their own initiative. Gas customers were able to save around €470 by changing from the default supplier to a competitor. Average savings amounted to €210 per year.

Fewer disconnections among electricity customers, more among gas customers

In 2023, a total of 204,441 electricity customers were disconnected, representing a slight year-on-year decrease from 208,506 in 2022. The number of disconnections of gas customers rose by 22% to around 28,000. Besides the persistently high gas prices this is mainly due to the fact that some of the disconnections postponed in 2022 were implemented in 2023.

Further charts and key figures on the retail sector are available in the "Energy data compact"  section at www.smard.de.