The UK Government has released new data showing fuel poverty regionally in England.

New analysis by fuel poverty charity National Energy Action (NEA) reveals Birmingham has the highest total number of households living in fuel poverty and the greatest proportion of households.

Birmingham now has 23.2% of households in fuel poverty (was 21.8%), followed by Stoke-on-Trent with 22.9% (was 22.1%).

However, there is still a two-year lag for sub-regional data. It only goes up to December 2021, yet energy prices only started to rise in October 2021. Since then, typical annual energy bills have almost doubled in a year – going from £1,271 for typical users to £2,500. This means the data does not show the worst impacts of the energy crisis.

The data shows the five areas with the highest percentage of households living in fuel poverty in 2021 were Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Coventry, and Sandwell.

Adam Scorer, chief executive of National Energy Action says: “Soaring energy prices and decreasing incomes have plunged millions more people into fuel poverty, unable to keep themselves comfortable and warm at home. Behind these figures are the stories of people we hear from every day. People in crisis, sacrificing hot meals or showers to afford a warm room, or forced to ration their energy despite it decimating their health. Yet, the two-year time lag on the data means we won’t know the full picture of the energy crisis until this time next year. The Government figures released today massively understate the current crisis.”

National Energy Action has updated its fuel poverty map so householders can find out how their area compares.

The data also shows the area with the highest fuel poverty by number is also Birmingham with 100,512 households (was 96,795), followed by Leeds with 55,274.

Fuel poverty in England is measured using the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) indicator. This takes into account household income, energy requirements and fuel prices but there are limitations. Those in homes with an EPC rating of C or above are not counted as fuel poor no matter their income or energy costs. Those most impacted by fuel poverty include people in privately rented homes, older, less energy efficient properties. People under 24 and those from ethnic minority backgrounds and in the lowest income decile are also disproportionately affected.