Bulgarian household energy prices significantly rose in H2 2017, but remain one of the lowest in the European Union (EU), according to the European statistical office Eurostat.
It is clear that for the second half of 2017 the country’s domestic electricity price was the lowest in the bloc, although there was an increase of 4.8% on an annual basis in national currency. This is also one of the most significant growth for the whole union. Higher growth is reported in Cyprus (12.6%), Romania (7.2%), Malta (7.1%), Estonia (6.5%) and Great Britain (5.3%).
On the reverse pole, most significant declines were recorded in Italy (-11.1%), Croatia (-7.5%), Slovakia (-6.2%) and Greece (-6.0%).
In euro, the average electricity prices for households in Bulgaria were 0.098 EUR per kilowatt hour. For comparison, in the first half of last year they were 0.096 EUR per kilowatt hour.
The most expensive electricity prices were in Germany (0.305 EUR per kilowatt hour) and Denmark (0.301 EUR per kilowatt-hour), while the EU average of 0.205 EUR per kilowatt-hour.
Concerning the prices of natural gas in Bulgaria, the annual growth is the second largest for the Union – by 20.6%, expressed in national currency. Only Estonia is ahead of us with a jump of 25.9% per year. At most, prices fell in Slovenia (-5.5%), Germany (-5.1%) and Luxembourg (-4.8%).
Overall, electricity prices across the EU remain unchanged on an annual basis, with a 0.2% growth rate. With natural gas again the change is minimal – a decrease of 0.5%.
Taxes and levies in the EU account for over a third (40%) of household electricity in the second half of 2017 and almost one third (27%) of the gas price.
