Heat pump sales in Germany surge but must double to hit expansion targets – industry

Sales of heat pumps jumped 55 percent in the first half of the year, but still lag far behind political targets as many customers are shying away from investing in costly new systems because of regulatory uncertainty, according to heating industry lobby group BDH. Sales of the devices, which are vital to reducing the climate impact of Germany’s heating sector, reached nearly 140,000 units between January and the end of June 2025, news agency dpa reported in an article published by Der Spiegel.

At the same time, sales of gas-fired heating systems dropped 41 percent to 132,500 units, while oil heating systems fell more than 80 percent to 10,500 units. Total heating system sales dropped more than a fifth to under 300,000 units, which the BDH expects to be the industry's worst annual sales figures in 15 years. The annual expected heat pump sales figure is only half of the 500,000 units the previous government had set as a target for 2025, according to BDH head Markus Staudt. The industry lobby group leader urged the new coalition government of chancellor Friedrich Merz to remedy the situation.

“We need clarity on the Building Energy Act’s future as quickly as possible,” Staudt said, adding that the government must not wait for upcoming EU regulation on building energy expected in 2026 before charting a course. Customers needed clarity on the future of emissions trading in the bloc, which will include the heating sector by 2027, and municipal heating plans, which are currently being drawn up across the country to adapt the use of climate-friendly technologies to local conditions.

The Building Energy Act (GEG), often referred to as the 'heating law,'  was introduced in 2024 to ramp up climate action in the sector and support the gradual replacement of fossil heating with low-carbon technologies, including heat pumps.

Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) had campaigned on a platform of abolishing the law introduced by former Green Party economy minister Robert Habeck. Habeck’s successor, Katherina Reiche from the CDU, has yet to announce details on plans to replace the previous government’s approach. In a separate press release, BDH said the coalition treaty's promise to reform the Building Energy Act and "repeated politically motivated statements on support conditions" had contributed to the confusion among customers and put the industry's well-being in danger.