German Christmas Lighting Hits Record 23.39 Billion Bulbs, Power Use Climbs
Hamburg – – September 12, 2026 -- German households will illuminate a record 23.39 billion Christmas lights this festive season, pushing national electricity consumption for holiday lighting to roughly 533 million kilowatt-hours, according to the 16th annual LichtBlick Christmas survey conducted by YouGov Deutschland.
Electricity demand for holiday lighting rises 42 million kilowatt-hours year-on-year
The survey, based on 2,103 respondents polled between August 24 and August 25, 2026, found that total power consumption for Christmas lighting climbed from approximately 491 million kilowatt-hours last year to 533 million kilowatt-hours. Powering all lights with green electricity would avoid 159,900 tonnes of CO2, based on a grey-power emissions factor of 300 grams CO2 per kilowatt-hour (BDEW, 2025 data), which currently implies direct emissions of 146,200 tonnes.