Over a year, it’s okay. Out of three, it’s a disaster. Comparis published its consumer price index (CPI) for the month of November 2024 on Tuesday, focusing the analysis on the evolution of heating-related expenses over the last three years. And suffice to say that the overall increase initiated at the beginning of 2021, coupled with the effects of the war in Ukraine, is still being felt, with one exception.
Certainly, there has been a big improvement over the last twelve months, which resulted in an average drop of 14.1% in heating energy prices. But despite this, over the past three years, the figures have shown a clear increase. Gas, for example, increased in price by 48.5%. “The lack of Russian gas could be compensated by other suppliers, but with higher prices,” analyzes Dirk Renkert, Argent Comparis expert. And to note that the evolution of the price of gas “shows the risks of too much dependence on different suppliers”.
For firewood, the increase was estimated at 25%. After a great start, pellets were hit hard, in 2022, by an increase in prices due to a sharp increase in demand. “The strength of the franc changed nothing, because around 80% of the supply came from national production,” notes Dirk Renkert. District heating prices have increased by 36.8%, according to Comparis. Among the heating methods studied, only fuel oil did well, with a price drop of 0.6%.
Result: on average, over the last three years, heating costs have increased by 24.0% in Switzerland, according to the online comparator.
