Household electricity prices across the EU barely budged in 2025—but that doesn’t mean consumers got relief. In fact, while underlying energy costs dipped a little, higher taxes

quietly nudged final bills upward.

In the second half of 2025, the average price households paid for electricity in the EU edged up to €28.96 per 100 kWh, compared with €28.79 earlier in the year. That’s a small increase, but prices are still noticeably higher than before the 2022 energy crisis.

What’s behind the uptick? Not energy itself. Pre-tax electricity prices actually fell slightly. The real driver was taxation. Levies and taxes rose both in absolute terms and as a share of total bills, climbing to nearly 29% of the final cost. In other words, even though electricity became a bit cheaper to produce or supply, consumers still paid more overall because of higher government charges.

The data, published by Eurostat, also highlights how uneven electricity prices remain across the bloc.

Some countries continue to face significantly higher costs. Ireland topped the list at €40.42 per 100 kWh, followed by Germany and Belgium. At the other end of the scale, Hungary, Malta, and Bulgaria offered the lowest household electricity prices.

But averages only tell part of the story. In several countries, prices shifted dramatically over the year. Romania saw a sharp surge of nearly 60% compared with late 2024, while Austria and Ireland also recorded steep increases. Meanwhile, countries like Cyprus, France, and Denmark experienced notable price drops.

When adjusting for purchasing power—reflecting how affordable electricity is relative to income—the picture changes again. Romania, Czechia, and Poland ranked among the most expensive, while Malta, Hungary, and Finland were the most affordable.

So while EU-wide electricity prices appear stable on the surface, the reality for households varies widely depending on where they live—and how much of their bill goes to taxes. Photo by 123df, Wikimedia commons.