Crude oil climbed past $147 a barrel briefly on Friday after breaking the $100 a barrel mark for the first time in January.
Further price increases to $200 a barrel would result in the loss of an additional €35 billion in purchasing power in Germany this year, the magazine reported, citing data from leading German economic research institute RWI Essen.
Oil price increases have cost individual Germans an average of about €650 since Jan. 1, according to the magazine’s report.
Price increases have hit the poor and families with children especially hard, according to the report.
A low-earning German family of four now spends about 18 percent of its expenses on petrol, heating oil, gas and electricity, up from about 14 percent at the beginning of the year. Energy costs would consume nearly a quarter of the family’s expenses if oil prices rise to $200 a barrel.
By comparison, according to the magazine, single people with above average income would see energy costs rise to 6.3 percent of their spending – from 4.8 percent at present – under the same oil price increase.
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