Germany paid €76 billion net for energy imports in 2025, even though volumes fell by a quarter

Germany spent around €76 billion net on fossil energy imports in 2025, even though imported quantities fell by roughly a quarter compared with 2015, according to an Öko-Institut analysis commissioned by WWF Germany and presented by the organisation on 5 November. The figure takes export revenues into account.

The figures. According to WWF, net import costs averaged €61 billion a year between 2015 and 2021, rose to €143 billion in 2022 and fell back to €76 billion in 2025. Germany imports almost all of its oil and about 90% of the gas it needs; net imports covered around 66% of primary energy consumption in 2025, according to Öko-Institut. Transport accounts for 34% of the bill and industry for 25%.

Europe. At EU level, imported volumes fell by about 10% over a decade, but costs rose by roughly a third. WWF puts net costs for 2025 at €296 billion, with oil and gas together making up almost 90% of the bill. According to pv magazine, the share of LNG in EU gas imports rose from 10% in 2015 to 40% in 2025.

What could be saved. The authors estimate that electrifying transport, industry and heating could eliminate about 40% of 2025 net import costs, or roughly €30 billion a year, and renewables and ambient heat a further 30%, around €23 billion. Felix Matthes, research coordinator at Öko-Institut, warned that as long as Germany imports large quantities of oil and gas, the economy remains vulnerable to international price fluctuations.

What comes next. WWF warns that 2026 could reach or exceed the level of the 2023 crisis year and links the analysis to upcoming decisions on the grid package and the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), whose drafts it considers insufficient. “Oil and natural gas imports are the energy policy Achilles’ heel of Europe and Germany,” said Felix Schmidt, energy expert at WWF Germany.

Real-time data for the country are on the country page.