In the first six months of the year, Malta had the fourth lowest household electricity rates in the European Union, according to new data released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency.

The average price was €0.1285 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

The EU average was €0.20 per kWh and the Euro Area average was €0.21 per kWh.

The price of energy in the EU depends on a range of different supply and demand conditions, including the geopolitical situation, the national energy mix, import diversification, network costs, environmental protection costs, severe weather conditions, or levels of excise and taxation. Note that prices presented in this article include taxes, levies and VAT for household consumers, but exclude refundable taxes and levies and VAT for non-household consumers, Eurostat said.

In the first half of 2018, average household electricity prices in the European Union (EU) were stable compared with the first half of 2017, standing at €20 per 100 kWh. Average gas prices in the EU were also stable and stood at €6 per 100 kWh in the first half of 2018.

Taxes and levies accounted for more than a third (37%) of the electricity bills charged to households in the EU in the first half of 2018. For gas bills the corresponding share was 27 %.

Between the first half of 2017 and the first half of 2018, the largest decreases in household electricity prices, in national currencies, were observed in Poland (-4.3%) and Greece (-3.6 %), followed by Latvia (-3.5 %), Malta and Germany (both -3.2 %). In contrast, the largest increase was registered in Romania (+14.1 %), ahead of Estonia (+11.7%), the Netherlands and Croatia (both +9.2 %).

Expressed in euro, average household electricity prices in the first half of 2018 were lowest in Bulgaria (€9.8 per 100 kWh), Lithuania (€11.0) and Hungary (€11.2) and highest in Denmark (€31.3), Germany (€29.5) and Belgium (€27.3).

In a statement, the government said electricity prices in Malta during the period under review were 60% cheaper than the Euro Area average.

The data, the government said, confirms that the burden of energy prices went down after the 2013 change in government.

Energy bills had increased by 68% between 20018 and 2013 when the average increase in the EU was 26%.

The price in 2013 was €0.166 per kWh. Back then, prices in Malta were the thirteenth highest in the EU.

By contrast, this government decreased energy prices by some 23% when prices in the EU increased by 2.5%.

This administration’s energy policy has left a positive impact on our economy, the government said.