In the first half of 2020, the average price of electricity for households in the European Union (EU) was 21.3 euros per 100 kW h and was slightly lower compared to the same period last year (21.6 euros per 100 kW h), according to Eurostat. At the same time, the average gas price in the EU was almost unchanged at 6.6 euros per 100 kWh.
Taxes and levies accounted for 40 % of electricity bills charged to EU households. For natural gas, the corresponding share of taxes and levies was one third (33 %) of the bill. Between the first half of 2019 and the first half of 2020, the largest decline in electricity prices for households, observed in national currencies, was recorded in the Netherlands (-31 %), followed by Latvia (-12.8 %), Slovenia (-11.4 %), Sweden (- 10 %) and Estonia (-8.9 %).
On the contrary, the highest growth was recorded in Lithuania (+13.6 %), Poland (+12.9 %), Luxembourg (+10.5 %), Romania (+9.1 %) and the Czech Republic (+8 %).
Expressed in euros, average electricity prices for households in the first half of 2020 were lowest in Bulgaria (10 euros per 100 kW h), Hungary (10.3 euros) and Estonia (12.4 euros), and highest in Germany (30.4 euros per 100 kWh), Denmark (28.3 euros) and Belgium (27.9 euros). Furthermore, the largest declines in gas prices for households, observed in national currencies, were recorded in Latvia (-29.4 %), Lithuania (-19.8 %), Sweden (-16 %) and Portugal (-15.4 %). On the other hand, the highest growth was recorded in the Netherlands (+8 %), France (+7.3 %) and Croatia (+ 5.2 %). Expressed in euros, average gas prices for households in the first half of 2020 were the lowest in Latvia, Hungary and Romania (3.2 euros per 100 kW h each) and Lithuania (3.6 euros), and the highest in the Netherlands (10 euros per 100 kWh), Sweden (9.8 euros), France (7.9 euros) and Denmark (7.5 euros).
