Average Netherlands resident to spend €323 less on energy bill this year

The energy bill will drop significantly this year thanks to the decreased prices for gas and electricity. For an average household, that amounts to a saving of 323 euros per year, predicts Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The statistics office used the energy prices of January 2024 for its forecast.

That is an average decrease of 12 percent compared to last year’s gas and electricity bill, even though the government still applied a price cap to ease the pain of high energy costs for households at the time. Most of the decrease, 220 euros, is due to lower prices. In addition, CBS expects that households will become even more efficient with their energy consumption, reducing the bill by another 123 euros.

Not everything on energy bills will be cheaper. The costs for the transport of gas and electricity will be 74 euros more expensive on average this year. Households also have to pay more tax on gas, which costs an average of 127 euros more. But a lower electricity tax reduces the total costs by just over 40 euros.

Overall, the average annual energy bill in the Netherlands this year will amount to 2,363 euros. Although that is much lower than last year, it is still significantly higher than before the energy crisis. Gas prices rose extremely sharply in 2022, partly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At the beginning of 2021, CBS calculated that the average energy bill for that year would be just over 1,500 euros.

Moreover, the differences between households are large. There are differences per contract with energy suppliers and the type of home in which someone lives. A single resident of a new small apartment will spend an average of 1,400 euros on energy. Someone who lives in an equally small but outdated apartment will spend 200 euros more per year.

The most expensive are households with two or more people in a large detached house. Their energy bill will average just under 4,000 euros, CBS expects.