Households in Great Britain will have their energy bills capped at 2,500 British pounds per year from October 2022 onwards, due to the measures introduced by the UK government in September of 2022. This will result in savings of around 1,050 for the average household, compared with the previous price cap, which was set to increase to 3,459 per year.

The study on current energy policy issues was conducted by the Kantar opinion research institute on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the German Federal Government. During the survey period from 19.10.2022 to 25.10.2022, the German-speaking population aged 14 and over was surveyed in telephone interviews (CATI) on the following topics: attitudes toward energy policy with a focus on energy saving, the burden of high energy prices, the need for information on energy policy, and the assessment of the gas price cap. Respondents were selected by a multi-stage random sample in a multi-topic survey (Emnid-bus) including landline and mobile phone numbers (dual-frame sample).
Paying attention to energy saving now compared to before the war in Ukraine; lowering energy consumption in Germany necessary for a stable energy supply in the coming winter and to achieve the goal of no more than 1.5 degrees of global warming; companies or industry, citizens or both under obligation to lower energy consumption in Germany; government requirements for citizens to save energy and for companies or industry vs. their own decision; energy topics on which people would like more information from the German government (ensuring a secure energy supply in Germany, measures taken by the German government to save energy in Germany, tips on saving energy in the home, measures already taken by the German government to relieve citizens from rising energy prices, measures still planned by the German government to relieve citizens from rising energy prices); assessment of the measures taken so far by the German government to secure the energy supply in Germany and to relieve citizens from rising energy prices as sufficient; respondent has already received bills for additional payments or higher advance payments for electricity or heating costs; strength of the financial burden of these additional expenses; evaluation of the planned gas price cap (brings noticeable relief for consumers in Germany, costs the state too much money, is necessary to prevent companies from going bankrupt, is unfair because it gives German companies an advantage over other companies in the EU, further motivates people to save energy because it only applies to 80% of the previous year´s consumption, disadvantages those who have always been thrifty because it is based on the previous year´s consumption).

Demography: sex; age; highest level of education; occupation; household size; number of people in the household aged 14 and over; party preference; voter eligibility; household net income (grouped); survey by mobile or landline.

In addition, the following was coded: serial respondent number; weighting factor; interview date; city size (BIK city size, political city size); federal state; survey area west/east.

This table contains consumer prices for electricity and gas. Weighted average monthly prices are published broken down into transport rate, delivery rates and taxes, both including and excluding VAT. These prices are published on a monthly basis. The prices presented in this table were used to compile the CPI up to May 2023. Prices for newly offered contracts were collected. Contract types that are no longer offered, but have been in previous reporting periods, are imputed. The average can therefore diverge from the prices paid for energy contracts by Dutch households.

Data available from January 2018 up to May 2023.

Status of the figures: The figures are definitive.

Changes as of 17 July 2023: This table will no longer be updated. Due to a change in the underlying data and accompanying method for calculcating average energy prices, a new table was created. See paragraph 3.

Changes as of 13 February: Average delivery rates are not shown in this table from January 2023 up to May 2023. With the introduction of the price cap, the average energy rates (delivery rates) of fixed and variable energy contracts together remained useful for calculating a development for the CPI. However, as a pricelevel, they are less useful. Average energy prices from January 2023 up to May 2023 are published in a customized table. In this publication, only data concerning new variable contracts are taken into account

When will new figures be published? Does not apply.

The UK inflation rate was three percent in January 2025, up from 2.5 percent in the previous month, and the fastest rate of inflation since March 2024. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. Due to this long period of high inflation, UK consumer prices have increased by over 20 percent in the last three years. As of the most recent month, prices were rising fastest in the communications sector, at 6.1 percent, but were falling in both the furniture and transport sectors, at -0.3 percent and -0.6 percent respectively.
The Cost of Living Crisis High inflation is one of the main factors behind the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis in the UK, which, despite subsiding somewhat in 2024, is still impacting households going into 2025. In December 2024, for example, 56 percent of UK households reported their cost of living was increasing compared with the previous month, up from 45 percent in July, but far lower than at the height of the crisis in 2022. After global energy prices spiraled that year, the UK's energy price cap increased substantially. The cap, which limits what suppliers can charge consumers, reached 3,549 British pounds per year in October 2022, compared with 1,277 pounds a year earlier. Along with soaring food costs, high-energy bills have hit UK households hard, especially lower income ones that spend more of their earnings on housing costs. As a result of these factors, UK households experienced their biggest fall in living standards in decades in 2022/23. Global inflation crisis causes rapid surge in prices The UK's high inflation, and cost of living crisis in 2022 had its origins in the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the initial waves of the virus, global supply chains struggled to meet the renewed demand for goods and services. Food and energy prices, which were already high, increased further in 2022. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an end to the era of cheap gas flowing to European markets from Russia. The war also disrupted global food markets, as both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of cereal crops. As a result of these factors, inflation surged across Europe and in other parts of the world, but typically declined in 2023, and approached more usual levels by 2024.

The average gas price in Great Britain in January 2025 was 123.02 British pence per therm. This was 50 pence higher than the same month the year prior and follows a trend of increasing gas prices. Energy prices in the UK Energy prices in the UK were exceptionally high in 2021-2022 due to an energy supply shortage as a result of lower pipeline supplies from Norway and Russia, as well as reduced LNG imports owing to greater purchases by customers in Asia. Multiple factors such as a lack of gas storage availability and the large share of gas in heating have exacerbated the supply issue in the UK. This led to multiple suppliers announcing bankruptcy, while an upped price cap threatened energy security of numerous households. The United Kingdom has some of the highest household electricity prices worldwide. How is gas used in the UK? According to a 2023 survey conducted by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 58 percent of respondents used gas as a heating method during the winter months. On average, household expenditure on energy from gas in the UK stood at some 24.9 billion British pounds in 2023.

On January 1, 2024, the largest volume of Russian crude oil shipments went to India, at almost 237,000 metric tons per day based on a 30-day running average. Since the beginning of 2022, the shipments to the European Union (EU) and the United States have decreased significantly. Both the EU and the U.S. imposed sanctions on oil imports from Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The EU banned seaborne crude oil imports starting from December 5, 2022, while the U.S. banned all imports of oil and petroleum products from Russia on March 8, 2022. Existing deals had to be ended by April 22, 2022. Furthermore, the G7, the EU, and Australia imposed a price cap of 60 U.S. dollars per barrel from December 5, 2022, to reduce Russia's energy export revenue, which is one of its largest sources of income.

Which countries started buying more oil from Russia? Faced with Western sanctions on Russian oil, Russia increased crude oil shipments to China, India, Turkey, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. In fact, China contributed the most to Russia's oil export revenue since the war in Ukraine, at approximately 178 billion euros as of May 2024. However, the oil price ceiling imposed in December 2022 could make it more difficult for Russia to export to non-Western countries, too. This is because the policy also applies to tankers that belong to the sanctioning countries, as well as those insured or financed by them. For instance, Russian oil cannot be transported to Turkey for a price above the market cap if it is insured by EU or United Kingdom (UK) companies.

How much does Russia earn from oil exports? Crude oil has traditionally been the main source of fuel and energy export revenue of Russia. Between February 24, 2022, and June 18, 2024, Russia earned almost 472 billion euros from oil exports, including crude oil and refined products. Over the same period, EU countries paid around 107 billion euros for Russian oil.