Eurostat: Electricity, gas prices in EU showing signs of stabilising after records in 2022
After a significant increase in prices that started before the Russian invasion of Ukraine but skyrocketed up to the second semester of 2022, electricity and natural gas prices in the European Union have recently shown signs of stabilising, partly due to policies and interventions by EU governments, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on April 26.
EU countries opted for various measures, such as reducing taxes and fees, temporary tax waivers to consumers, price caps, providing lump sum support or allocating vouchers to final consumers, and some countries applied regulated prices, Eurostat said.
In the second half of 2022, average household electricity prices in the EU continued to show a sharp increase compared with the same period in 2021, from 23.5 euro per 100 kWh to 28.4 euro per 100 kWh.
Average gas prices also increased compared with the same period in 2021 from 7.8 euro per 100 kWh to 11.4 euro per 100 kWh in the second half of 2022. These prices are the highest on Eurostat’s record, the statistics agency said.
Compared with the second half of 2022, the share of taxes in the electricity bill dropped sharply from 36 per cent to 16 per cent (-18.3 per cent) and in the gas bill from 27 per cent to 14 per cent (-15.8 per cent), with all EU countries putting in place governmental allowances and subsidies or reduce taxes and levies to mitigate high-energy costs.
“These governmental measures, while lowering energy prices for the final consumer, have burdened governmental accounts,” Eurostat said.
Household electricity prices rose in all EU members, except Malta (-3 per cent, in national currencies) and the Netherlands (-7 per cent), in the second half of 2022, compared with the same period of 2021.
Prices in Malta are regulated, while the Dutch government supports consumers with lump sums and taxes reduction.
The highest increases were recorded in Romania (+112 per cent), Czechia (+97 per cent), Denmark (+70 per cent), Lithuania (+65 per cent) and Latvia (+59 per cent), while the lowest were in Luxembourg (+3 per cent), Austria and Germany (both +4 per cent), and Poland and Bulgaria (both +5 per cent).
Expressed in euro, average household electricity prices in the second half of 2022 were lowest in Hungary (10.8 euro per 100 kWh), Bulgaria (11.5 euro) and Malta (12.8 euro) and highest in Denmark (58.7 euro), Belgium (44.9 euro), and Ireland (42 euro).
Between the second half of 2021 and the second half of 2022, gas prices increased in all 27 EU countries, Eurostat said.
Gas prices (in national currencies) surged the most in Czech Republic (+231 per cent), Romania (+165 per cent), Latvia (+157 per cent), Lithuania (+112 per cent) and Belgium (+102 per cent).
There were only two increases below 20 per cent: Croatia (+14 per cent) and Slovakia (18 per cent).
“All price increases are from the energy and supply component, mainly driven by the recent energy crisis,” Eurostat said.
Expressed in euro, average household gas prices in the second half of 2022 were lowest in Hungary (3.5 euro per 100 kWh), Croatia (4.5 euro) and Slovakia (4.9 euro) and highest in Sweden (27.5 euro), Denmark (20.8 euro) and the Netherlands (19.3 euro).
The price of natural gas for households in Sweden was 157 per cent higher than the EU average price. However, natural gas use in Sweden is very limited, Eurostat said.
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