Romanians pay among lowest gas prices in the EU

Romanians pay among the lowest gas prices in EU when taking into account the purchasing power, according to Eurostat data.

Among member states, household gas prices in the second half of 2014 ranged from just over EUR 3 per 100 kWh in Romania to above EUR 11 per 100 kWh in Sweden.

Thus, expressed in euro, average household gas prices in the second half of 2014 were lowest in Romania (EUR 3.2 per 100 kWh) and Hungary (EUR 3.5), and highest in Sweden (EUR 11.4), Portugal (EUR 10.4), Spain (EUR 9.6) and Italy (EUR 9.5). The average gas price in the EU was EUR 7.2 per 100 kWh.

Between the second half of 2013 and the second half of 2014, the highest increases in household gas prices in national currency were observed in Portugal (+11.4 percent), Spain (+7.5 percent) and France (+4.5 percent), and the highest decreases in Lithuania (-18.6 percent), Hungary (-13.0 percent), Slovenia (-10.7 percent), Denmark (-10.3 percent) and Greece (-10.1 percent).

Adjusted for purchasing power, it can be seen that, relative to the cost of other goods and services, the lowest household gas prices were recorded in Luxembourg, Latvia, the United Kingdom and Belgium, and the highest in Portugal, Spain and Bulgaria.

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In the second half of 2014, taxes and levies made up the largest contribution to the price of gas for households in Denmark (61 percent of household gas price) and Romania (52 percent), and the smallest in the United Kingdom (5 percent) and Luxembourg (11 percent). At EU level, taxes and levies accounted on average for nearly a quarter (23 percent) of household gas prices in the second half of 2014.

Eurostat reviewed also the electricity prices paid by the population in the European Union, including taxes.

In the European Union, household electricity prices rose by 2.9 percent on average between the second half of 2013 and the second half of 2014 to reach EUR 20.8 per 100 kWh. Opposite to the trend registered in the EU, in Romania, electricity prices fell by 2.9 percent in the second half of 2014 as compared to 2013.

Since 2008, electricity prices in the EU have increased by more than 30 percent. Across the EU member states, household electricity prices in the second half of 2014 ranged from EUR 9 per 100 kWh in Bulgaria to more than EUR 30 per 100 kWh in Denmark.

Across the EU member states, the highest increase in household electricity prices in national currency between the second half of 2013 and the second half of 2014 was registered by far in France (+10.2 percent), followed by Luxembourg (+5.6 percent), Ireland (+5.4 percent), Greece (+5.2 percent), Portugal (+4.7 percent), the United Kingdom (+4.6 percent) and Spain (+4.1 percent). In contrast, the most noticeable decrease was observed in Malta (-26.2 percent), well ahead of the Czech Republic (-10.2 percent), Hungary (-9.9 percent), the Netherlands (-9.6 percent), Slovakia (-9.2 percent) and Belgium (-7.8 percent). Expressed in euro, average household electricity prices in the second half of 2014 were lowest in Bulgaria (EUR 9 per 100 kWh) and Hungary (EUR 11.5) and highest in Denmark (EUR 30.4) and Germany (EUR 29.7). The average electricity price in the EU was EUR 20.8 per 100 kWh.

Staff