In the euro area, electricity prices had increased to 29 euros per 100kWh in the second half of 2022, due to the war launched by Russia against Ukraine, and worsened even further (31.2 euros) in the first six months of 2023.
Natural gas also saw a strong increase in the second half of 2022 (to 11.3 euros per 100 kWh) and in the first half of 2022 (13.2 euros), among the 20 euro countries.
In the European Union (EU), between July and December 2023, electricity prices for domestic consumption fell to 28.3 euros per 100 kWh, including fees and taxes, remaining slightly below the same figure (28.4 euros) and falling compared to the 29.3 euros per 100kWh recorded in the first half of 2023.
With regard to natural gas, according to the EU’s statistical service, on average across the 27 Member States, the price was set at 11.2 euros per 100 kWh, which compares with 11.3 in the same period and in 11.8 euros from the first half of 2023.
Portugal was, in the second half of 2023, in 16th place in the electricity price table, with 22.9 euros for 100 kWh, and had the third highest cost of natural gas: 13.7 euros.
Germany (40.2 euros per kWh) is the country where domestic consumers pay the most for electricity, followed by Ireland (37.9 euros) and Belgium (37.7 euros), while at the other end of the table is Hungary (11.3 euros), Bulgaria (11.9 euros) and Malta (12.7 euros per 100 kWh).
With regard to natural gas prices, the highest were recorded, in the second half of 2023, in Sweden (20.7 euros per 100 kWh), Ireland (16.3 euros) and the Netherlands (15 euros).
The lowest, in turn, were observed in Hungary (3.3 euros per 100 kWh), Croatia (4.7 euros) and Romania (5.5 euros per 100 kWh of natural gas).
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