Survey: Most Czechs spend a fifth of their budget on energy, share edges down

Most households spend around a fifth of their budget on energy. The share of these costs has edged down slightly compared with last year. Even so, Czechs’ concerns about rising prices increased year on year, mainly due to the new US policy and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This is according to a survey for energy company epet, whose results were obtained by the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

According to the survey, most Czech households are continuing to conserve energy. This was confirmed by 70 percent of respondents, similar to last year. As in the previous heating season, households most often managed to reduce their consumption by around a fifth, the survey found.

The survey showed that this was reflected in energy spending. While in spring last year, according to epet, advance payments for energy amounted to as much as 40 percent of the monthly household budget for more than a third of households, this share fell to 31 percent this year. The number of households spending less than 20 percent of their monthly household budget on energy also increased.

„This marked decline in energy spending confirms that the market has stabilised after turbulent years, suppliers can offer more favourable prices, and the time has come for competition to start working in customers’ favour,“ said epet’s Sales Director Roman Šmíd.

According to the survey, the geopolitical situation around the world is also shaping domestic consumers’ expectations. While a third of Czech consumers feared rising energy prices last year, the figure is 43 percent this year. Fewer than a fifth expect prices to fall. The most common reasons cited by respondents are the turbulent policies of US President Donald Trump, the conflict in Ukraine and the upcoming elections to the Chamber of Deputies in Czechia.

The survey also examined Czechs’ attitudes towards potentially switching suppliers. It found that Czech consumers are conservative and tend to change energy suppliers only rarely. Currently, 16 percent of households are considering switching suppliers, according to the survey. Almost 90 percent of those considering a change plan to switch to another supplier because of lower prices.

The survey was conducted in early April among 1033 respondents through the Czech National Panel, which is backed by the STEM/MARK, NMS Market Research and Nielsen Admosphere agencies. It is an online panel where users register to take part in surveys.