Over 500,000 Dutch households faced energy poverty last year

Over 500,000 Dutch households faced energy poverty last year, according to a preliminary estimate by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the TNO research institute. This represents a significant increase compared to 2023. According to the organizations, the increase was mainly due to the elimination of financial support measures, such as the energy allowance and energy price cap.

Households experiencing energy poverty have a low income and high energy costs. They often live in homes that are difficult to heat due to inadequate insulation, for example. As a result, they spend a relatively large portion of their income on energy.

According to CBS and TNO, approximately 510,000 households faced energy poverty last year, accounting for 6.1 percent of all Dutch households. These are often single-person households living on pensions or benefits. In 2023, 331,000 households were “energy poor,” representing 4 percent of all households.

Energy-poor households spent an average of almost 12 percent of their income on energy bills last year, an increase of 4.5 percent. Incomes rose less rapidly than energy expenditures. All households combined spent an average of almost 5 percent of their income on energy.

A big part of the increase in energy poverty is the government stopping its energy support measures. Households were still eligible for an energy allowance in 2022 and 2023. For most households, this amounted to 1,300 euros per year. 2023 also had a price cap on energy, setting a maximum price for the first 1,200 cubic meters of gas and 2,900 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

According to researcher Anika Batenburg of TNO, part of the energy poverty problem can be solved by making homes more sustainable. Income policy can also offer a solution for the group that still faces high energy bills. “It is up to politicians to decide how to address this problem,” said Batenburg.

CBS and TNO noted that fewer households are experiencing energy poverty than in 2019, even though energy costs were much lower then. That year, there were 682,000 energy-poor households. The organizations attribute this difference to the improvement in housing quality since then. Households are also now much more energy-efficient, and incomes have risen.