Irish pay more for electricity, less for gas
Figures released yesterday by the statistical office Eurostat, show domestic electricity prices in the EU rose by 6.6% and gas prices by 10.3% between the second half of 2011 and the second half of 2012. The increases followed similar rises the previous year.
Irish consumers now pay €22.90 per 100kWh of electricity, as against the EU average of €19.70.
Consumers in Britain and the North pay €17.90.
Irish electricity prices rose by 9.7% between the second half of 2011 and the second half of 2012, an increase that was more than 50% higher than the average EU price rise over the same period.
Irish households proportionately get better value for gas, paying €6.70 per 100kWh as against the EU average of €7.90. However, gas in Britain and Northern Ireland is even cheaper, at an equivalent of €5.80 per 100kWh. Irish gas prices rose by 8.7% between the second half of 2011 and the second half of 2012 while the average increase in the EU overall was 10.3%.
Overall, changes in electricity prices ranged from a fall of 5% in Sweden to an increase of 21% in Cyprus.
The highest increases in household electricity prices in national currency were registered in Cyprus, Greece (+15%), Italy (+11%), Ireland and Portugal (both +10%), Bulgaria, Spain and Poland (all +9%).
Decreases were observed in Sweden (-5%), Hungary (-2%) and Finland (-1%), while prices remained stable in Denmark and Malta.
Expressed in euro, average household electricity prices in the second half of 2012 were lowest in Bulgaria (€9.60 per 100kWh), Romania (€10.80) and Estonia (€11.20), and highest in Denmark (€29.70), Cyprus (€29.10), Germany (€26.80) and Italy (€23).
Change in gas prices ranged from a fall of 8% in Slovenia to a rise of 21% in Latvia. Between the second half of 2011 and the second half of 2012, the highest increases in household gas prices in national currency were observed in Latvia, Estonia (+19%) and Bulgaria (+18%). Prices in Belgium, Denmark and Slovakia remained stable or nearly stable.
Average household gas prices in the second half of 2012 were lowest in Romania (€2.70 per 100kWh), Slovakia (€5.10) and Estonia (€5.20), and highest in Sweden (€12.70), Denmark (€10.80) and Greece (€10.20). The average gas price in the EU27 was €7.20 per 100kWh.
