After a significant increase in prices that started before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but skyrocketed through the second semester of 2022, electricity and gas prices are stabilizing. The prices of energy rose due to an increase in the price of natural gas, which is considered the marginal fuel. This happened because the imports from Russia decreased, and other importers were sought. The energy market is priced after the marginal fuel, which means that the price of natural gas affects the prices of the electricity market. Mechanisms were constructed to alleviate the pressure on consumers, and one of these were subsidies.

In the first half of 2023, average household electricity prices in the EU continued to show an increase compared with the same period in 2022, from €25.3 per 100 kWh to €28.9 per 100 kWh. Average gas prices also increased compared with the same period in 2022, from €8.6 per 100 kWh to €11.9 per 100 kWh in the first half of 2023. These prices are the highest recorded by Eurostat. 

This information comes from data on electricity and gas prices published recently by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained articles on electricity prices and natural gas prices.

Source : EUROSTAT