1. Main facts and figures
- in 2024, 11% of all households in England were in ‘fuel poverty’
- households are in fuel poverty if they live in a property with an energy efficiency rating of ‘D’ or below, and would go below the poverty line if they spend the amount needed to heat their home
- White households (11%) were the least likely to be in fuel poverty and Black households (15%) were the most likely
- the average 'fuel poverty gap' for all households was £407 – this is the reduction in fuel costs needed for a household to not be in fuel poverty
- White households had the largest fuel poverty gap (£432) and Black households had the smallest (£270)
Further research
The Committee on Fuel Poverty annual report: 2024 – which uses the Fuel Poverty Statistics – found that a higher percentage of ethnic minority households were in fuel poverty compared with White households. This was because they had a lower median income and were more likely to live in lower income neighbourhoods, which often had housing that was older and less energy efficient.
Some of the fuel poverty recommendations proposed by the committee include ensuring an effective measurement of fuel poverty, better targeted energy efficiency programmes to meet the government’s targets, and assessments of the impact of a policy on fuel poverty before they are put into place.
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures:
- the percentage of households in fuel poverty in England
- the fuel poverty gap
‘Fuel poverty’ is measured using the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency indicator.
Under this indicator, a household is fuel poor if both:
- the household’s Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating (FPEER) is band D or below
- their disposable income (after housing and fuel costs) would go below the official poverty line if they spent the amount needed to heat their home
The ‘fuel poverty gap’ is the reduction in fuel costs needed for a household to not be in fuel poverty. This is either:
- the change in costs associated with increasing the energy efficiency rating of a fuel poor household to a FPEER of at least band C
- the reduction in costs needed to take them above the poverty line
The information relates to households of either one person or a group of people sharing cooking facilities and a living room or dining area. It must be their main or only home.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. They have been worked out using unrounded numbers.
Not included in the data
Data based on fewer than 10 households is not included.
Data based on households between 10 and 30 should be used with caution due to small sample sizes. This is because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the following 4 ethnic groups:
- Asian
- Black
- White
- Other including Mixed
Each household’s ethnic group is the ethnicity of the ‘household reference person’. This is usually the person responsible for paying the rent or mortgage. The data does not account for people of different ethnic groups who live in the same household.
Ethnicity was known for 99.9% of households in the data
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
Households’ fuel costs and income have been adjusted to take into account differences in the numbers and ages of people living in them.
Annual data is modelled on 2 years’ data from the English Housing Survey. Data for 2024 is projected and will be finalised in the 2026 publication.
The figures are based on survey data. Find out more about:
- interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
In the data file
Download the data for estimates from 2010 to 2024 for 2 ethnic groups:
- White
- all other ethnic groups combined (excluding White minorities)
3. Fuel poverty by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % of households that are fuel poor | Number of fuel poor households (000s) |
|---|---|---|
| All | 11 | 2,733 |
| Asian | 12 | 202 |
| Black | 15 | 157 |
| White | 11 | 2,273 |
| Other including Mixed | 13 | 102 |
Download table data for ‘Fuel poverty by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Fuel poverty by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Households in fuel poverty Fuel poverty by ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
- in 2024, 11% of White households were in fuel poverty – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 15% of Black households were in fuel poverty – the highest percentage
- 12% of Asian households were in fuel poverty, and 13% of households in the ‘Other including Mixed’ ethnic group
4. Fuel poverty gap by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Average fuel poverty gap (£) | Number of fuel poor households (000s) |
|---|---|---|
| All | 407 | 2,733 |
| Asian | 285 | 202 |
| Black | 270 | 157 |
| White | 432 | 2,273 |
| Other including Mixed | 316 | 102 |
Download table data for ‘Fuel poverty gap by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Fuel poverty gap by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Households in fuel poverty Fuel poverty gap by ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
- in 2024, the fuel poverty gap was highest for White households (£432)
- it was lowest for Black households (£270)
- the fuel poverty gap was £285 for Asian households, and £316 for households in the ‘Other including Mixed’ ethnic group
5. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Accredited official statistics
Publisher
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The main purpose of the annual fuel poverty statistics is to track:
- progress against fuel poverty targets
- the percentage of households in fuel poverty and their fuel poverty gap
Household energy efficiency ratings go from G (lowest) to A (highest). Energy efficiency is measured using the Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency rating (FPEER).
The government wants to make sure that as many fuel poor households in England as possible have a minimum FPEER rating of band C by 2030.
6. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type_example, geography, geography_type, geography_code, sex, value_1, value_1_type, value_2, value_2_type, sample_size_1, value_3, value_3_type, sample_size_2.
This file contains the following: measure, time, time_type_example, geography, geography_type, geography_code, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, sex, value_2, value_2_type, sample_size_1, value_3, value_3_type, value_4, value_4_type, sample_size_2.