This is almost twice as much as six years ago: a third of French people have difficulty paying their gas and electricity bills and 72% limit heating

It's not just fuel that weighs heavily on French people's energy expenditure. According to the latest barometer from the National Energy Mediator*, 86% of people questioned believe that their gas or electricity bill eats up a significant part of their budget. A stable proportion compared to 2025 but which remains at its highest level since 2007.

According to INSEE data relayed by Que Choisir ensemble, successive crises have caused the gas price index to jump by 140% since 2021 and that of electricity by 27%. Faced with these increases, a third (34%) of households say they are having difficulty paying certain energy bills, compared to 18% in 2020. Young people under 35 are the main ones affected by this energy poverty since 55% of them say they are experiencing the same difficulties.

This category of the population is also the one that suffers the most from the cold (53%, compared to 35% on average) but also from extreme heat in their homes (70%). The summer of 2026 with its repeated heatwaves having been particularly trying, this share jumped by 22 points in one year. In the population as a whole, 65% of households report having suffered from excess heat for at least 24 hours (+16 points).

Unsurprisingly, heatwave tops the main causes cited (87%), ahead of poor insulation of housing (28%) and poor ventilation (12%). 72% of households limit heating In total, 28% of respondents say they have suffered from both the cold in winter and the heat in summer in 2026. But given the weight of bills in their budget, a majority prefer to force themselves to be energy efficient: 72% of households say they have limited heating in their home to avoid excessively high bills (+19 points) and more than a third (35%) admit to having suffered from the cold in their home for at least one year. day.

“This barometer reminds us that, for many households, energy remains a source of financial concern and that energy poverty is now evident in winter as well as in summer,” observes Bernard Doroszczuk, National Energy Mediator. In this context, six out of ten French people believe that the electrification of uses is an economic and environmental opportunity (75% among young people). But this is not yet a priority for them: 53% do not plan to electrify any equipment, mainly due to their costs.

If they took the plunge, however, the purchase of an electric vehicle and a heat pump would be preferred (27 and 26% respectively). It should also be noted that investment intentions are decreasing: only 18% of households are considering insulating their homes this year, compared to 21% last year. 14% also plan to install solar panels, compared to 18% in 2025.

*Survey carried out by the Mantu agency between September 2 and 15, 2026 among a representative sample of 2,000 households in mainland France interviewed electronically.

Machine-translated from French