The key facts

  • The average electricity price in the EU in the first half of 2026 was €28.3 per 100 kWh, down 2.2% compared with the second half of 2025
  • Gas prices in the EU fell by an average of 10.2% over six months; the most expensive gas price is in Sweden (€22), the cheapest in the EU is in Hungary (€3.3)
  • An expert at the University of Dundee expects bills to rise in the second half of 2026 and especially in the first half of 2027

A decline against the backdrop of rising wholesale prices

In the first half of 2026, electricity and gas prices for households fell on average across the European Union — even though the war that began with the involvement of Iran started pushing wholesale gas prices upward. According to Eurostat, the average electricity price in the EU was €28.3 per 100 kWh, which is 2.2% less than in the second half of 2025 and 1.6% less than a year earlier. Gas prices fell by 10.2% over the half-year and by 3.5% year on year.

Differences between countries

The differences between countries are significant: a unit of electricity in Ireland cost more than three times as much as in Hungary. Among 38 European countries, electricity prices including taxes ranged from €6.6 per 100 kWh in Turkey to €38.7 in Ireland. Ireland was followed by Germany (€36.2), Belgium (€35.8), Austria (€32.6), Italy (€31.4) and Sweden (€30.6). The lowest price in the EU is in Hungary (€11.4); below the average were also Spain (€25.1) and France (€24.9).

Adjusted for purchasing power

Adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPS), Romania was the leader in expensive electricity — 46.9 PPS per 100 kWh, followed by Poland (41.1) and Czechia (34.3). The lowest figures after Iceland (12.6) were Turkey (13.5), Malta (13.8), Hungary (14.7) and Norway (15.0). In the gas segment, among 29 countries, prices in euros ranged from €1.6 in Georgia to €22 in Sweden; in PPS terms North Macedonia led (20.8), while in euros it was below the EU average.

Price dynamics by country

In euros, electricity rose the most over the half-year in Finland (+19.5%), Turkey (+11.2%), Poland (+10.6%), Lithuania (+10.6%) and Sweden (+10.4%), and fell the most in Denmark (-28.2%) and Luxembourg (-24.1%). Year on year, the largest increase was in Romania (+51.9%), followed by Turkey (+35%), Ireland (+19.8%) and Finland (+18.4%). In all four largest EU economies, electricity prices fell over the year: in France by 7%, in Germany by 5.7%, in Italy by 4.5%, in Spain by 3.9%. In the gas market, the biggest declines were in Italy (-23.2%), Spain (-17.6%) and Greece (-16%), while Turkey (+12.9%) and Romania (+6.3%) saw increases; among large economies, annual gas growth occurred only in France (+3.7%).

Why prices were falling and what comes next

Professor Xioi Mu, director of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee, explains the divergence in dynamics by government policy: taxes, levies and network tariffs make up a large share of the final price. For example, Denmark temporarily reduced the electricity tax by about €0.10 per kWh from 1 January 2026, while Finland took no such measures. VaasaETT, a company involved in compiling the HEPI index, also points to differences in energy balances, tariff structures and the way costs are distributed among customer groups.

Retail price lag and forecast

The expert explains the decline in retail prices amid rising wholesale prices by the lag between the benchmark wholesale gas price (TTF) and prices for households: according to him, the lag can range from several months to more than a year, depending on how the retail market is structured. Many households are on fixed-price contracts, and suppliers purchase energy in advance to protect against fluctuations. Mu notes that the wholesale gas price in the second half of 2025 fell by 19% compared with the first half of the same year and by 14% compared with the second half of 2024, and considers this one of the key reasons for the decline in retail prices. 'Unfortunately, I expect households may face higher bills in the second half of 2026, but to a greater extent in the first half of 2027,' he said. HEPI data on capitals already partially confirm this: from 2 February to 1 September, gas prices rose by an average of 12% and electricity prices by 4.2%; in the October update of the index, electricity price increases were recorded in 21 of the 33 capitals tracked, and gas increases in 14 of 27.