Despite 4.9% Q2 2019 fall, electricity costs still among EU highest
The price of electricity has fallen by almost 5% in Portugal. Still, the country is still among the highest in the European Union.
Electricity prices in Portugal had the third-highest year-on-year fall in the second half of 2019 (-4.9%) but, expressed in purchasing power parity, they are still among the highest in the EU, according to Eurostat.
According to data released on Thursday by the European Statistical Office, when expressed in purchasing power parity – a common reference that eliminates differences in price levels between countries – the highest electricity prices for household consumption were recorded in Romania (27.8 ppp per 100 kWh), Germany (26.8), Spain (26.2), Portugal (26.0), Belgium (25.9) and Cyprus (25.1).
The lowest prices in purchasing power parity were in Finland (14.4 ppp per 100 kWh), Luxembourg (14.6), Malta (15.4), France (17.5), Sweden (17.6), Estonia (18.2), Hungary and the Netherlands (18.3 each) in the second half of 2019.
Between the second half of 2018 and the second half of 2019, Portugal recorded the third-largest drop (-4.9%) in electricity prices, to 21.8 euros per 100 kWh, after Denmark (-6.3%) and Greece (-5.8%).
The biggest increases, on the other hand, took place in the Netherlands (19.6%), Lithuania (14.3%) and the Czech Republic (11.0%).
In the euro area, household electricity prices rose by 1.3% to 21.6 euros per 100 kWh, while in the EU the increase was 2.3% to 21.7 euros/100 kWh.
As regards the proportion of taxes and charges in the price of electricity, in Portugal they weigh 49% of the price, compared with 41% in the euro area and 40% in the EU.
