BERLIN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Germany's energy consumption in 2023 is expected to fall to a new record low, down 8 percent year-on-year, according to calculations published by think tank AG Energiebilanzen on Thursday.
Total energy consumption in Europe's largest economy is set to decline to 10,784 petajoules (PJ), 28 percent below the peak in 1990, according to the think tank. The reduction has mainly been caused by the country's shrinking economic output.
Besides warmer weather and the high cost of energy, production declines in energy-intensive industries in particular will have a "noticeable impact on energy consumption," AG Energiebilanzen said.
Germany's chemical industry, the country's biggest energy consumer, expects production to fall by 8 percent in 2023. "The situation is serious and the mood is correspondingly bad," Markus Steilemann, president of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), said in September.
Household energy prices also remain high despite a gradual easing in recent months. Compared to the average for 2020, consumer energy prices were still up 55.7 percent in September, according to official figures.
"The German economy is only emerging slowly from the setbacks caused by the energy price shock, the tighter monetary policy and the global economic softening," the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) said in its economic report for October.
As the German economy is showing restrained development this year, the government is expecting a 0.4 percent recession in 2023. In the coming year, the country's economy is to recover gradually as inflation normalizes. ■
