The average payment for 100 kilowatt-hours of household electricity in European Union (EU) countries increased 15% to €25.30 in the first half of this year, compared to €22 in the same period of last year, Eurostat data showed Monday.
The cheapest electricity among EU member states was sold in the Netherlands with Dutch households paying €5.95 per 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Hungary followed with €9.48, Bulgaria with €10.93, and Malta with €12.93.
Denmark paid the most for electricity among EU member states for the first half of the year. Residents in Denmark paid €45.59 per 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity, while Belgium, Germany and Italy followed with €33.77, €32.79 and €31.15, respectively.
The highest increase in electricity prices was observed in Czechia at 62%, Latvia at 59% and Denmark at 57%.
However, subsidies and price restraints succeeded in reducing electricity prices in five EU countries — the Netherlands by 54%, Slovenia by 16%, Poland by 3% and Portugal and Hungary by 1%.
- Sweden paid the most for natural gas
In the first half of the year, the average price paid for 100 kilowatt-hours of residential natural gas in EU countries was calculated as €8.60, up from €6.40 last year.
The highest price was paid in Sweden at €22.16 per 100 kilowatt-hours, followed by Denmark at €16, the Netherlands at €12.93, and Estonia at €11.06.
Among EU member states, the most affordable natural gas consumption was in Hungary as households in Hungary paid an average of €2.91 per 100 kilowatt-hours of natural gas.
The country with the highest increase in gas prices was Estonia at 154.3%. Whereas in Hungary, where gas prices are limited, prices decreased by 0.5%.
Reporting by Ata Ufuk Seker in Brussels
Writing by Zeynep Beyza Kilic
Anadolu Agency
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