Malta with the third highest increase in energy prices in 2017

Malta registered the third highest increase in energy prices in the EU in 2017, Eurostat reported yesterday.

Across the EU Member States, the highest increase in household electricity prices in national currency between the second half of 2016 and the second half of 2017 was registered in Cyprus (+12.6%), followed by Romania (+7.2%), Malta (+7.1%), Estonia (+6.5%), the United Kingdom (+5.3%), Bulgaria and Belgium (both +4.8%) and Poland (+4.5%).

In contrast, the most noticeable decreases were observed in Italy (-11.1%), Croatia (-7.5%), Slovakia (-6.2%) and Greece (6.0%).

Expressed in euro, average household electricity prices in the second half of 2017 were lowest in Bulgaria (€9.8 per 100 kWh), Lithuania (€11.1) and Hungary (€11.3) and highest in Germany (€30.5), Denmark (€30.1) and Belgium (€28.8). The average electricity price in the EU was €20.5 per 100 kWh.

When expressed in purchasing power standards, an artificial common reference currency that eliminates general price level differences between countries, it can be seen that, relative to the cost of other goods and services, the lowest household electricity prices were found in Finland (13.0 PPS per 100 kWh), Luxembourg (13.4) and the Netherlands (14.0), and the highest in many (28.8), Portugal (28.0), Belgium (26.4), Romania (26.0) and Poland (25.4).

The share of taxes and levies in total household electricity prices varied significantly between Member States, ranging from two-thirds in Denmark (69% of household electricity price is made up of taxes and levies) and over half in Germany (55%) and Portugal (52%) to 5% in Malta in the second half of 2017. On average in the EU, taxes and levies accounted for more than a third (40%) of household electricity prices.

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