Updated 25 October 2026
Quick answer: Households in Ireland, Germany and Belgium pay the most for electricity among the countries in our table, about 36 to 39 euro cents per kilowatt-hour (40 to 43 US cents) including all taxes and charges. The UK's price cap is 26.32p per kWh from October 2026 (about 35 US cents) plus a daily standing charge, and the EU average is 28 euro cents (about 32 US cents). The United States averages 18.3 cents, and Türkiye, Hungary, Serbia and Malta are cheapest in Europe at 7 to 13 euro cents. Despite the war involving Iran, average household electricity prices in the EU actually fell 2% in the first half of 2026, because higher wholesale costs take months to reach bills. That lag is now ending: European gas prices have roughly tripled since February, the UK cap rose 4% in October and is forecast to rise again in January, and more increases are likely across Europe this winter. The interactive table below lists 34 countries.
Most news about energy bills covers a single country, uses wholesale prices that households never see, or gives figures without taxes. This guide uses the prices households actually pay, from the EU's official statistics for 31 European countries, the UK regulator's price cap and the US Energy Information Administration, and explains why bills have not yet followed oil and gas prices up, and what to expect next.
| Country | Price per kWh | ≈ US$/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| Ireland−4.2% vs late 2025 | €0.387 | $0.433 |
| Germany−6.5% vs late 2025 | €0.362 | $0.405 |
| Belgium+2.2% vs late 2025 | €0.357 | $0.400 |
| Austria−0.4% vs late 2025 | €0.326 | $0.365 |
| Italy+5.9% vs late 2025 | €0.314 | $0.352 |
| United KingdomOfgem price cap, Oct–Dec 2026 | 26.32p | $0.352 |
| Sweden+12.9% vs late 2025 | €0.306 | $0.343 |
| Poland+10.7% vs late 2025 | €0.300 | $0.336 |
| Czechia−10.4% vs late 2025 | €0.288 | $0.323 |
| EU average−2.2% vs late 2025 | €0.283 | $0.317 |
| Romania−2.0% vs late 2025 | €0.284 | $0.317 |
| Finland+19.5% vs late 2025 | €0.269 | $0.302 |
| Cyprus−3.1% vs late 2025 | €0.269 | $0.301 |
| Spain−6.0% vs late 2025 | €0.251 | $0.281 |
| France−3.0% vs late 2025 | €0.248 | $0.278 |
| Netherlands−4.4% vs late 2025 | €0.244 | $0.273 |
| Latvia−1.5% vs late 2025 | €0.241 | $0.270 |
| Greece+0.8% vs late 2025 | €0.240 | $0.269 |
| Denmark−28.3% vs late 2025 | €0.237 | $0.266 |
| Portugal−2.8% vs late 2025 | €0.237 | $0.265 |
| Lithuania+10.6% vs late 2025 | €0.216 | $0.242 |
| Estonia−8.0% vs late 2025 | €0.212 | $0.237 |
| Slovenia−0.1% vs late 2025 | €0.212 | $0.237 |
| Iceland−0.2% vs late 2025 | €0.208 | $0.232 |
| Luxembourg−24.1% vs late 2025 | €0.202 | $0.226 |
| Norway+3.7% vs late 2025 | €0.199 | $0.223 |
| Slovakia+7.1% vs late 2025 | €0.199 | $0.222 |
| Croatia+9.9% vs late 2025 | €0.182 | $0.203 |
| United StatesNational average, July 2026 | 18.3¢ | $0.183 |
| Bulgaria−1.0% vs late 2025 | €0.134 | $0.150 |
| Malta−2.2% vs late 2025 | €0.127 | $0.142 |
| Serbia+0.6% vs late 2025 | €0.120 | $0.134 |
| Hungary+5.3% vs late 2025 | €0.114 | $0.127 |
| Türkiye+3.3% vs late 2025 | €0.066 | $0.074 |
What These Prices Include
An electricity bill has three main parts:
- Energy and supply: the cost of generating the electricity and the supplier's costs and margin. This is the part that follows wholesale prices.
- Network charges: the cost of transmission lines and local distribution networks, usually regulated.
- Taxes and levies: VAT, energy taxes and charges for renewable energy or social programmes.
Eurostat's figures include all three, averaged over a typical household using 2,500 to 5,000 kWh a year, the most common band. Fixed standing charges are spread across the units used. The UK figure is the unit rate under Ofgem's cap; the daily standing charge of 54.83p is extra, which adds roughly 8p per kWh for a typical home. The US figure is the average revenue per kWh from residential customers, which includes fixed charges.
In most European countries, taxes and network charges make up more than half of the bill, which is why prices differ so much between neighbouring countries buying electricity from the same market.
The Most Expensive Countries
- Ireland: €0.387 per kWh. Ireland depends heavily on gas for power generation and has high network costs for a small, dispersed grid.
- Germany: €0.362. Still among the highest in Europe, although prices fell 6.5% in the first half of 2026 as the government cut grid fees and levies.
- Belgium: €0.357.
- Austria (€0.326) and Italy (€0.314). Italy relies on gas for nearly half its electricity, so it is among the most exposed to gas prices.
- United Kingdom: 26.32p (about €0.31) plus a standing charge, putting a typical UK household among the highest-paying in Europe once fixed charges are included.
The Cheapest Countries
- Türkiye: €0.066, where prices are regulated and subsidised, and fall in euro terms as the lira weakens.
- Hungary: €0.114, where regulated household prices are held far below market levels for normal consumption.
- Serbia (€0.120), Malta (€0.127) and Bulgaria (€0.134), also with regulated or state-supported household prices.
- Norway (€0.199) and Iceland (€0.208), where hydropower supplies almost all electricity.
- United States: 18.3 cents (about €0.163). US prices are low by European standards thanks to cheap domestic gas, but they vary widely by state, from around 11 to 12 cents in some states to over 40 cents in Hawaii. They also rose 4.9% in the year to July 2026, faster than inflation, driven by grid investment and rising demand from data centres.
Why Bills Have Not Followed the War, Yet
The war that began on 28 February 2026 disrupted gas as well as oil. Qatar, one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), halted production for a period, and shipments through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted. European wholesale gas prices (the Dutch TTF benchmark) doubled within days, from about €32 per megawatt-hour before the war to over €60. After falling back in spring, they climbed through the summer and passed €90 in October, the highest since 2022.
Yet the EU average household electricity price fell from €0.290 to €0.283 per kWh between the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026, and household gas prices fell 10%. Three things explain the gap:
- Hedging. Suppliers buy most of their energy months or years ahead. Electricity sold to households in early 2026 was largely bought in 2025, at lower prices.
- Regulated and fixed prices. Many households are on fixed-price contracts or regulated tariffs that change only once or twice a year.
- Tax cuts. Several governments reduced taxes or network charges from January 2026, before the war began. Denmark cut its electricity tax almost to zero for 2026 and 2027, which explains most of its 28% fall; Germany reduced grid fees and levies.
The lag works in both directions, and it is now turning against households. Electricity in many European markets is priced off gas-fired power stations, so higher gas prices feed into wholesale electricity prices and, over the following months, into retail tariffs.
What Is Happening Now
- United Kingdom: the price cap rose 4% from 1 October 2026, to £1,723 a year for a typical dual-fuel household. Ofgem said the rise reflected continued pressure on oil and gas supplies from the Middle East conflict. The increase is mostly in gas, because the government removed VAT from household electricity. Cornwall Insight forecasts a further rise of around 16% in January 2027, to about £1,999, although that is a forecast rather than a decision.
- Japan: government subsidies held bills down through the summer, but they ended in October, pushing standard household bills at all ten regional utilities to record levels. Tokyo Electric's standard bill rose by ¥1,286 a month.
- Australia: regulated default prices fell in most states from July 2026, by up to 7% in south-east Queensland, but wholesale prices on the east coast have been rising again since.
- United States: residential prices are rising about 5% a year, driven more by grid costs and data-centre demand than by the war, because the US produces its own gas.
- Europe: suppliers are passing on higher wholesale costs at contract renewals this autumn and winter. Data for the second half of 2026 will show how large the increase is.
What a Kilowatt-Hour Means for Your Bill
A typical European household uses about 3,500 kWh of electricity a year; a typical US household uses about 10,500 kWh, three times as much, because of larger homes, air conditioning and electric heating. At current prices, that means annual electricity costs of roughly:
- Germany: 3,500 kWh × €0.362 = about €1,270.
- EU average: 3,500 kWh × €0.283 = about €990.
- United Kingdom: 2,500 kWh (Ofgem's typical use) × 26.32p, plus standing charges = about £860.
- United States: 10,500 kWh × 18.3¢ = about $1,920.
So although Americans pay much less per unit, they often spend more in total. Every 10% rise in the unit price adds roughly €100 a year to the EU average bill and nearly $200 to the US average.
How to Cut Your Electricity Bill
- Check whether you can fix. If wholesale prices are expected to rise further, a fixed-price deal can protect you for a year or two. Compare the fixed price with the current variable rate and any exit fees.
- Use a time-of-use tariff if you can shift use to night or weekend hours, especially with an electric car, heat pump or battery. Off-peak rates can be half the standard rate or less.
- Find the big users. Heating, hot water, tumble dryers, electric showers, older fridges and freezers, and electric cars usually account for most of a bill. A plug-in energy monitor shows what each appliance costs.
- Cut standby and heating waste. Lower your thermostat by one degree, heat only the rooms you use, and use timers. Each degree typically saves around 5% to 10% of heating costs.
- Look at solar. With higher prices, rooftop solar pays back faster, especially if you use the power during the day or add a battery.
- Claim support. Many countries offer discounts or payments for low-income households, pensioners and people with medical needs. Check with your supplier and government.
If you drive, electricity prices also determine whether an electric car is still cheaper to run than a petrol one after this year's fuel price rises. Our guide Petrol Prices Since the Iran War: How Much They Have Risen in 35 Countries shows how much petrol has risen.
How Governments Shield Households
After the 2022 energy crisis, when European wholesale gas briefly passed €300 per MWh, governments spent hundreds of billions of euros keeping household bills down. The tools they used are being discussed again:
- Price caps, such as the UK's Ofgem cap and Spain's and France's regulated tariffs, limit what suppliers can charge on standard tariffs. They protect households but leave suppliers, or the government, to absorb the cost when wholesale prices exceed the cap.
- Tax cuts on VAT and energy taxes are quick to apply and help everyone, but they also help high-income households with large homes the most.
- Targeted payments and social tariffs for low-income households, pensioners and people with disabilities cost less and reach those who need help most, but they require good data on who is eligible.
- Subsidies to suppliers, as in Japan, keep bills down directly but are expensive and blunt the incentive to save energy.
Most economists favour targeted support over blanket price cuts, because cutting prices for everyone encourages more consumption at exactly the moment supplies are tight. In practice, governments tend to use a mix. If wholesale prices stay high into 2027, expect new support schemes to be announced, especially in countries with elections ahead.
For a household, the lesson from 2022 is that support schemes rarely cover the full increase. It is worth building some extra room into your budget for higher winter bills; our guide How Much Emergency Fund Do You Need? (With Calculator) shows how to size a cash buffer.
Data Notes
European prices are Eurostat's household electricity prices (nrg_pc_204) for consumers using 2,500 to 5,000 kWh a year, including all taxes and levies, for January to June 2026, compared with July to December 2025. Gas prices shown on tap are Eurostat's household gas prices (nrg_pc_202) for consumers using 20 to 200 GJ a year. Eurostat publishes figures for the second half of each year in spring, so the table will next be updated with July–December 2026 data. The UK figure is Ofgem's price cap unit rate for October to December 2026 for customers paying by direct debit; the US figure is the EIA's average residential price for July 2026, which is preliminary. Dollar values use the ECB reference rate for 23 October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country has the most expensive electricity in 2026?
Among the countries in our table, Ireland, at about €0.39 per kWh (43 US cents) including all taxes, followed by Germany (€0.36) and Belgium (€0.36). The UK is similar once its standing charge is included.
Which country has the cheapest electricity in Europe?
Türkiye (about €0.07 per kWh), followed by Hungary, Serbia, Malta and Bulgaria, where household prices are regulated or subsidised.
How much does electricity cost per kWh in the US?
The national average residential price was 18.3 cents per kWh in July 2026, up 4.9% on a year earlier. It ranges from around 11 cents in the cheapest states to more than 40 cents in Hawaii.
What is the UK electricity price cap in October 2026?
26.32p per kWh plus a daily standing charge of 54.83p for customers paying by direct debit, from 1 October to 31 December 2026.
Has the Iran war increased electricity prices?
Wholesale gas and power prices rose sharply, but household prices have so far changed little because suppliers bought energy in advance and many tariffs are fixed or regulated. Increases are now starting to reach bills, and more are expected this winter.
Will electricity prices go down in 2027?
That depends mainly on gas supplies. Forecasters expect European gas prices to stay high through the winter. If supplies through the Gulf return to normal, wholesale prices could fall quickly, but bills would follow only after several months.
Why is electricity so expensive in Germany?
Mainly because of taxes, levies and network charges, which make up around half the price, along with the cost of the energy transition and a reliance on gas for flexible power. Prices fell in 2026 after the government cut grid fees.
Final Thoughts
Electricity prices differ by a factor of six across Europe, driven more by taxes, networks and regulation than by the cost of generating power. In 2026, these same factors have kept household bills surprisingly stable despite the war, but the shield is temporary. Wholesale gas prices are about three times their pre-war level, and increases are already reaching bills in the UK and Japan.
For households, the practical steps are to check whether a fixed deal makes sense before winter, shift use to cheaper hours where possible and look for the biggest users in your home. We will update the table when the next round of official data is published.
Sources
- Eurostat: household electricity prices (nrg_pc_204)
- Eurostat: household gas prices (nrg_pc_202)
- Ofgem: energy price cap will rise by 4% from October 2026
- US Energy Information Administration: Electric Power Monthly
- ElectricRates.org: US electricity rate report, July 2026 (EIA data)
- Money to the Masses: Cornwall Insight forecast for the January 2027 price cap
- The Nation: Japan faces record electricity bills as subsidy ends
- Canstar: Default Market Offer prices for 2026–27
- Upstream: gas price soars as Iran fallout hits the LNG market
- France Épargne: TTF gas passes €90/MWh for the first time since 2022
- European Central Bank: euro foreign exchange reference rates
Related Guides
- Compare Countries 2026: Minimum Wage, Tax, Mortgage Rates, Energy and Pension Age in 35 Countries
- Petrol Prices Since the Iran War: How Much They Have Risen in 35 Countries
- Why Are Prices Still So High When Inflation Has Come Down?
- How Much Emergency Fund Do You Need? (With Calculator)
- Interest Rates Are Rising Again: 7 Money Moves to Make Now
- Why Did My Insurance Premium Go Up When I Never Made a Claim?
Prices from Eurostat, Ofgem and the US Energy Information Administration, checked October 2026. This article is for information only.
0 Comments
Thanks for reading my blog,please read other topics my blog also!!!