Energy poverty in Czechia now affects more than a million people

In 2025, 1,140,000 people in 600,000 households in Czechia met the criteria for energy poverty, according to data from the Faculty of Social Studies at the University of Ostrava. This applied to 33% of single-parent households, 40% of low-income families with children and 25% of single-pensioner households; among tenants, one in four lives in energy poverty.

A household is considered energy-poor if it has a low income and cannot afford to heat its home adequately, has debts for electricity, gas or heating, or spends more than 20% of its net monthly income on energy.

Who is most at risk

Compared with 2024, the number of people in energy poverty fell by roughly 200,000, but according to Jan Klusáček, a social policy analyst at the University of Ostrava, “the drop isn't as large as it could be, because energy prices haven't fallen and won't fall.” He warns that rising wholesale electricity and gas prices could push the figure back up in the coming months.

Those most at risk are low-income families with children (39.4% of such households), single parents (32.7%), households with a disability (27.8%) and single women pensioners over 65 (23.9%). The number of pensioners in energy poverty fell from 400,000 to 270,000, while the drop among children has been much slower — 320,000 children are still in that situation. Pensioners are more likely to live in their own homes, often insulated, while families with children tend to rent: the risk of energy poverty among tenants is four times higher than among homeowners.

Where the situation is worst in Czechia

The highest share of households in energy poverty is found in the Hradec Králové (14.1%), Ústí nad Labem and Moravian-Silesian (13.3% each) and Karlovy Vary (13.2%) regions. The lowest shares are in the Pardubice (6.4%), Plzeň (7.6%) and Zlín (8.5%) regions. Since 2021, the number of people in energy poverty has risen from 800,000 to a peak of 1.3 million in 2023–2024, before falling slightly to 1.1 million in 2025.

How the state is trying to help

According to Karel Polanecký, an expert at the environmental movement Hnutí Duha, insulating homes would do the most to reduce energy poverty: currently only 7% of energy-poor households live in a fully insulated home (walls and roof). The main tool is the state programme “Nová zelená úsporám” (NZÚ), which has paid out more than 110 billion crowns since 2009, insulated over 153,000 family houses and 10,000 apartment buildings, and funded more than 240,000 solar installations.

This year, Andrej Babiš's government changed the programme: instead of direct subsidies, it now mainly offers interest-free loans, with direct subsidies remaining only for low-income families under the “NZÚ Light” scheme. According to the ministry, only around 2,000 applications have been filed so far, and fewer than half have been approved. Polanecký believes the programme will need fine-tuning, since gas prices are now at their highest since 2022, while there is still no better tool for fighting energy poverty in the country.

Another tool is the labour office's energy allowance, but according to Mikuláš Opletal of the Platforma pro sociální bydlení (Platform for Social Housing), its ceiling — usually between two and four thousand crowns per household — often fails to cover real costs and doesn't account for regional differences in energy prices. He also notes that unstable rental contracts, often for just three months, discourage landlords from investing in the energy efficiency of their properties.

Also read: Rental agreements in Czechia 2026: nájem vs podnájem, kauce

Source: denik.cz