The upheavals that occurred on the energy markets in 2021 and 2022 have not had any long-lasting or structural effects on the market. This can be seen in the selected key figures presented below, which focus on household customers. The key figures will also be included in the upcoming Monitoring Report 2025 published by the Bundesnetzagentur and the Bundeskartellamt and mainly refer to the year 2024. The electricity and gas retail prices given below reflect the level on the reporting date of 1 April 2025.

The percentage of default supply customers falls again

In 2022 and 2023 the percentage of customers on standard contracts with their default supplier rose, which was contrary to the long-term trend. This was due to the volatile market situation, to uncertainty about price changes and to several suppliers exiting the market, resulting in many electricity and gas customers having to fall back on the default supplier. In 2024 the percentage of default supply gas and electricity customers fell again. Around 23% of electricity customers had a contract with their default supplier, while some 16% of gas customers were supplied under a default supply contract.

Contract and supplier switching particularly attractive for household customers

The electricity price for household customers across all contract types as at 1 April 2025 was 40.1 ct/kWh, which corresponds to a decline of around 4% from the previous year. As at the same date, the gas price for household customers across all contract types remained practically unchanged at 12.3 ct/kWh, thus remaining at a high level.

Customers who had an electricity contract with a competitive supplier (that is, a supplier other than the default supplier) paid an average of 38.2 ct/kWh as at the reporting date and benefited from the cheapest prices. For gas customers, too, the competitive suppliers’ prices were the lowest at an average of 11.6 ct/kWh. Switching supplier is therefore a simple and fast option for saving on energy costs.

New record highs for contract and supplier switches

New customers in particular are currently enjoying especially advantageous conditions and bonuses from gas and electricity suppliers. The attractive offers are also reflected in a clear rise in the number of supplier switches. In 2024 around 7.1mn electricity customers switched supplier – an increase of around 18% from the previous year and a new all-time high. The switch rate was around 14%. In 2022, the number of supplier switches fell considerably due to the volatile markets and uncertain supply situation. Moreover, in 2024 more than 3.3mn electricity customers took the initiative to change their tariff with their existing supplier. Electricity customers who switched from a default supply contract were able to make savings of around €236 per year on average.

The number of supplier switches for gas in the same period rose to around 2.2mn household customers – likewise a new record. In the previous year this number was only 1.8mn households. The switch rate was around 17%.

Furthermore, around 1.2mn gas customers took steps to have their existing contracts adjusted. Gas customers who switched from a default supply were able to save around €50 per year on average.

Overall, German household customers were able to save around €2.2bn in energy costs by switching their supplier and contract.

More disconnections of electricity and of gas customers

In 2024 a total of some 245,000 disconnections of electricity customers were registered, which corresponds to an increase of around 20% from the previous year’s figure of 204,000 disconnections. The number of gas customer disconnections likewise rose by around 20% to some 33,700 occurrences. 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 notice periods have expired may the disconnection take place. The possibility of objections, agreements on payment or out-of-court settlements may delay the time when the disconnection is finally carried out. Moreover, many electricity suppliers have at times voluntarily waived disconnections in recent years. It may therefore be that the higher number of disconnections in 2024 is merely a delayed effect.

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