Power cuts, households suffering from the cold: alarming figures on fuel poverty

Energy poverty continues to gain ground in France and households are finding it more and more difficult to heat themselves, in particular due to the rise in the cost of energy. Here are 5 figures which reveal the extent of this worrying phenomenon.

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The figures are alarming. A few days before the 4th edition of the national day to combat energy poverty, scheduled for November 12, the Abbé Pierre Foundation, accompanied by around twenty organizations involved in energy renovation, presented this Tuesday a report on this a scourge which affects more and more households in France. Despite growing mobilization of civil society and institutions around this phenomenon, more and more households are struggling to maintain an acceptable temperature in their homes, or are going broke to achieve this. The year 2023 saw a worrying increase in the number of people reporting suffering from cold or excessive heat in their homes.

“The explosion of energy prices, the increase in insecurity, the effects of climate change and the persistence of millions of energy-intensive homes that are impossible to heat in winter or cool in summer have too strong an impact on household budgets, but also on their health and social life», deplores the Abbé Pierre Foundation. While the approaching winter is expected to once again put millions of families in difficulty, Capital invites you to discover 4 telling figures, which demonstrate that fuel poverty continues to grow in France.

12 million people struggle to heat themselves

This is the number of people who suffer from energy poverty in France in 2023, according to the energy mediator. Due in particular to inflation which is making households more precarious, the poor thermal quality of millions of homes and the increase in energy costs, no less than 12 million people, or around a fifth of the French population, fails to heat properly. Energy poverty has direct consequences on household health since, according to a study carried out by the Abbé Pierre Foundation, 48% of adults who face this scourge suffer from migraines, and 22% from chronic bronchitis. For comparison, these figures drop to 30% and 7% respectively among people who heat themselves properly.

4.8 million thermal strainers

In France, 4.8 million homes are considered thermal sieves, meaning that they are rated F or G in the energy performance diagnosis (DPE), according to the energy poverty observatory (ONPE). These homes, most of which are very poorly insulated, are necessarily much more complicated to heat than recent or renovated homes. According to a study by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the renovation of the 1.7 million energy sieves in the private rental stock by 2028 and the 1.9 million housing units whose DPE is classified E by 2034 would make it possible to prevent the death of 10,000 people.

1 million households suffered a power outage

In 2023, no less than 1 million households will have suffered a power cut or a reduction in power due to unpaid energy bills, a spectacular increase of +49% compared to 2019. Of this total, more than 178,000 Electricity cuts were suffered by households who were no longer able to pay their bills. A figure that is all the more worrying given that the rise in energy prices would have been twice as high in 2023 without the price shield and energy checks put in place by the government. Furthermore, no less than 75% of electricity consumers declared having restricted heating at least once a year for budgetary reasons. A figure increasing by 22 points compared to 2020.

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30% of households suffer from the cold

According to a study carried out in 2024 by the energy mediator, 30% of households report having suffered from the cold for at least 24 hours in their home last year. For comparison, this figure rose to only 19% in 2022, proof that the situation continues to deteriorate. Note that the phenomenon of energy poverty is not limited to the cold since 6 out of 10 people suffered from the heat in their homes in 2023. Beyond the euphemism of summer comfort, energy poverty occurs in the summer also causes serious health, economic, ecological and social consequences.