On average, private households in Germany pay the highest electricity prices in Europe. This is shown by new EU data that Sahra Wagenknecht, a member of the Bundestag, requested from the Federal Statistical Office and which is available to the Editorial Network Germany (RND).
Accordingly, a kilowatt hour in the second half of 2023 cost around 42 cents (0.4162 euros) including taxes and duties in this country, putting it at the top of the 27 EU member states. Germany ranks more than 13 cents above the EU average of 28.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Compared to the first half of 2023, the price has fallen slightly, but – unlike the European average – is still significantly higher than the amounts charged in 2022.
According to statistics, the highest electricity prices for household customers in Germany are in Ireland at 37.46 cents and Italy at 36.19 cents per kilowatt hour, both at the end of last year and including all taxes and duties. Electricity is cheapest for private individuals in Hungary (11.09 cents/kWh), followed by Norway (12.11 cents/kWh).
National taxes and duties contribute to the large price differences in Europe, as the comparison of prices without the surcharges shows: The gap between the cheapest kilowatt hour produced in Hungary (8.73 cents) and the most expensive in Germany (30. 06 cents) at 21 cents, compared to the difference with taxes and duties of 30.53 cents.
In view of the figures, Wagenknecht called for a new pricing system in which the costs of network expansion are no longer passed on to electricity customers: “Instead of a policy that ensures dream returns for suppliers and network operators, we need, among other things, a reform of network fees, which already account for a large part today of the electricity price. The network fees are an invitation to rip-offs,” said the founder and co-chair of the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) to the RND. “The numbers show that the previous energy transition in Germany has failed, because the whole of Europe is doing better.”
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