In 2025 a total of nearly 254,000 disconnections of electricity customers were recorded, which corresponds to an increase of about 3.5% from the previous year’s figure of around 245,000 disconnections. The number of gas customer disconnections fell slightly by around 1% to some 34,000. 

Fixed time periods prescribed by law must be observed between the first non-payment of bills, a notice of disconnection and the actual disconnection. Only after these periods have expired may the disconnection take place. The possibility of objections, agreements on payment or out-of-court settlements may further delay the time when the disconnection is finally carried out. With this in mind, the Bundesnetzagentur’s figures for 2025 show that the number of disconnection notices in the gas sector was up nearly 30% to just over 1.28mn, whereas in the electricity sector it was unchanged at about 4.6mn. As experience shows that only about 3% to 5% of disconnection notices actually result in a disconnection, it is unclear what the future developments will be.
 
An initial indication could be the disconnection numbers for 2026 so far, which the Bundesnetzagentur records on a quarterly basis. The number of electricity disconnections in the first quarter of 2026 was stable from the same period of 2025, while there were about 6% more gas disconnections in the first three months of 2026 compared to the same quarter of the previous year.