Energy bills to soar by 54% after price cap increase from April
Energy price cap to increase by £693 in April 2022 in the UK.
Read more…UK energy statistics
Find out how much the average UK household spends annually on energy bills.
The UK is the third biggest energy consumer in Europe with only France and Germany using more energy than us. We spend on average more than £1,300 per household on energy every year, but more than 18 million Brits don’t understand their energy tariff or compare providers often enough to realise the money they could be saving money. We unpacked the latest statistics to find out more about energy bills in the UK.
Quick Overview
- In 2021, the average energy bill in the UK was £1,330.
- The South West of England (£1,375) was the highest paying region for annual energy bills in 2021, with East Midlands (£1,295) paying the least of the UK regions.
- In 2021, the average UK household electricity bill was £769.
- The average UK household gas bill was £564 in 2021, 27% less than the average electricity bill.
- In 2021, 15% of UK households switched their electricity supplier, with 1 in 10 (12%) having switched their gas supplier.
- Almost half (48%) of UK’s electricity is produced from gas.
- According to our 2017 survey results, 43.7% of Brits (18.16 million) don’t know or understand their energy tariff options.
- 65.1% also feel as though they have no power over their energy costs.
How much does the UK Household pay for energy bills?
No-one likes to be paying more for something than they need to, but the truth is many of us are doing just that with our energy bills. We have looked into how much the UK regions are spending each year on electricity and gas.
Regionally, the South West of England pay the most on average for household bills at £1,375 a year. Followed by Wales (£1,367), London (£1,360), South East (£1,356), and Scotland (£1,340).
The East Midlands paid on average the least for energy in 2021, costing £1,295. This was £80 less than than the South West.
| Region | Energy Bill cost |
|---|---|
| Scotland | £1,340 |
| East Midlands | £1,295 |
| East of England | £1,327 |
| London | £1,360 |
| North East England | £1,302 |
| North West England | £1,311 |
| South East England | £1,356 |
| South West England | £1,375 |
| West Midlands | £1,324 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £1,303 |
| Wales | £1,367 |
| Northern Ireland |
Are energy prices rising in the UK?
Rising energy prices are a growing concern for Brits and can really pull on the purse strings. So have prices been rising in Britain?
Energy bills in the UK have steadily increased since 2010, average energy prices have increased 23% from 2010 (£1,081) to 2021 (£1,333). Electricity prices on average have increased £266 a year from 2010 to 2021, this is an increase of 52%. With Gas prices having slightly reduced, with domestic gas prices having reduced from 2.4% since 2010.
| Year | Average gas bill | Average electricity bill | Total bills |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | £578 | £503 | £1,081 |
| 2011 | £629 | £526 | £1,155 |
| 2012 | £703 | £546 | £1,249 |
| 2013 | £731 | £569 | £1,300 |
| 2014 | £741 | £575 | £1,316 |
| 2015 | £697 | £562 | £1,259 |
| 2016 | £616 | £555 | £1,171 |
| 2017 | £584 | £581 | £1,165 |
| 2018 | £593 | £641 | £1,234 |
| 2019 | £610 | £698 | £1,308 |
| 2020 | £581 | £705 | £1,286 |
| 2021 | £564 | £769 | £1,333 |
How is the UK’s electricity produced?
In 2022, 48% of electricity in the UK is made from gas, followed by 16% from wind energy and nuclear (15%). Solar (7%) and Biomass (6%) make up the top 5 resources for generating electricity. Imported electricity (5%), hydro (1%), storage (1%) and coal (1%) make up the remaining resources for producing the UK’s electricity in 2022.
| Type of energy | Energy share august 2022 |
|---|---|
| Gas | 47.70% |
| Wind | 15.90% |
| Nuclear | 15.10% |
| Biomass | 6.20% |
| Coal | 0.90% |
| Solar | 7.20% |
| Imports | 4.50% |
| Hydro | 1.20% |
| Storage | 1.30% |
The biggest suppliers of British energy
79% of all energy provided in the UK comes from 6 different providers. As they have such a big share of the market, they’re called “Big Six”. N Power was the 6th biggest energy supplier in 2018 and 2019, however they were taken over by E.ON in July 2020.
| British Gas | E.ON | SSE/OVO Energy* | EDF | N Power* | ScottishPower | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2018 | 20% | 14% | 14% | 11% | 9% | 10% |
| Q2 2018 | 20% | 13% | 14% | 11% | 9% | 10% |
| Q3 2018 | 19% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 9% | 10% |
| Q4 2018 | 19% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 8% | 10% |
| Q1 2019 | 19% | 13% | 13% | 11% | 8% | 10% |
| Q2 2019 | 19% | 12% | 13% | 11% | 8% | 9% |
| Q3 2019 | 19% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 7% | 9% |
| Q4 2019 | 19% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 7% | 9% |
| Q1 2020 | 18% | 12% | 16% | 11% | 7% | 9% |
| Q2 2020 | 18% | 12% | 15% | 11% | 7% | 9% |
| Q3 2020 | 18% | 12% | 15% | 10% | 6% | 9% |
| Q4 2020 | 18% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 3% | 9% |
| Q1 2021 | 18% | 17% | 14% | 11% | 0% | 9% |
| Q2 2021 | 18% | 17% | 14% | 11% | 0% | 9% |
How many Brits have switched their gas or electricity suppliers?
In 2021, just over 1 in 10 (12%) of gas customers in the Uk switched their energy supplier, whereas 15% of households with electricity switched their supplier. In total figures, there were 46% more electricity (4,502,000) supplier switches compared to gas (3,082,000) in 2021.
There have been more households switch electricity compared to gas since 2010, with there being 46% more households that switched their electricity supplier compared to
| Electricity | Gas | |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4,750,000 | 3,556,000 |
| 2011 | 4,206,000 | 3,269,000 |
| 2012 | 3,341,000 | 2,280,000 |
| 2013 | 3,425,000 | 2,190,000 |
| 2014 | 3,058,000 | 2,282,000 |
| 2015 | 3,396,000 | 2,709,000 |
| 2016 | 4,420,000 | 3,347,000 |
| 2017 | 5,118,000 | 4,144,000 |
| 2018 | 5,402,000 | 4,517,000 |
| 2019 | 5,946,000 | 4,822,000 |
| 2020 | 5,811,000 | 4,336,000 |
| 2021 | 4,502,000 | 3,082,000 |
Why are Brits not switching energy providers?
Over 60% of Brits have changed energy providers one time or less, so what is stopping us from switching providers? In a 2018 survey, 65% of respondents reported risks associated with switching, with the most common risk being that costs might go up. Explore the graphic below to find the 5 most common reasons Brits aren’t switching.
Top five perceived risks of switching energy supplier
Over half (52%) of Brits say their biggest risk of switching energy suppliers is that they might not save as much as they thought they would. Followed by 4 in 10 (41%) say their costs may go up through switching energy suppliers.
This is followed by potentially being double billed (29%) and switching to a supplier who may go out of business (29%). With almost 1 in 5 people fearing they may get cut off from their energy.
| Reason for switching | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Might not save as much as though | 52% |
| Costs might go up | 41% |
| Double/shock billing | 29% |
| Supplier they switch to might go bust | 29% |
| They might get cut off | 18% |
Sources used
- Ofgem
- Gov.uk
- Finder
- Open Access Government
- Nottenergy
- Renewableenergyhub
- National Grid ESO
- BEIS
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