Cyprus household electricity prices rose by 12.6% in the second half of 2017 compared to the same period the previous year, the highest increase in the EU where household electricity prices averaged a 0.2% fall.
Eurostat figures released on Wednesday showed prices in Cyprus stood at €18.3 (average price per 100 kWh) in the second half of 2017, or 20.7 PPS (purchasing power standards). Of this, 22% went to taxes and levies.
The EU average was €20.5 per 100 kWh. Across the EU Member States, household electricity prices ranged from below €10 per 100 kWh in Bulgaria to more than €30 per 100 kWh in Denmark and Germany.
Taxes and levies in the EU on average represented over a third (40%) of the electricity price charged to households in the second half of 2017, and about a quarter (27%) of the gas price.
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 (PPS), 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 Germany (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.
