Electricity in Czechia remained the EU's most expensive in the first half by purchasing power standard

Household electricity prices in the Czech Republic remained the highest in the European Union in the first half of the year when measured by the purchasing power standard (PPS). The EU statistical office Eurostat announced this today. PPS is an artificial currency that accounts for differences in purchasing power between countries.

According to Eurostat, electricity prices in Czechia in the first half of the year stood at 39.16 PPS per 100 kilowatt-hours. Poland followed at 34.96 PPS and Italy at 34.40 PPS. Malta had the lowest price, at 13.68 PPS. Household electricity cost 15.01 PPS in Hungary and 18.70 PPS in Finland.

"The main reason electricity prices in Czechia are the highest in the EU when adjusted for purchasing power is a combination of high distribution charges, taxes and low wages compared with Western Europe," XTB analyst Jiří Tyleček told the Czech News Agency.

As a result, Tyleček said, households spend a larger share of their income on energy, even though the market price of electricity itself is not significantly different from the EU average. "The figures also reflect the slow pass-through of falling wholesale prices to end-user tariffs and long-term dependence on energy-intensive infrastructure," he added.

According to Tyleček, the Czech electricity market is also heavily influenced by the structure of generation, which is characterised by a larger share of output intended for export. "A significant share of generation is sold by producers on the open European market, where electricity prices are set by regional exchanges (e.g. EEX), rather than by domestic demand," Tyleček said.

In a separate report, Eurostat also reported on household natural gas prices. In the first half of the year, these were highest in Sweden when measured by the purchasing power standard, at 17.55 PPS per 100 kilowatt-hours. They were lowest in Hungary, at 4.43 PPS. In Czechia, they stood at 11.91 PPS.

In euro terms, average household electricity prices across the EU fell by 0.5 percent in the first half of this year compared with the second half of last year, to 28.72 euros (around CZK 700) per 100 kilowatt-hours. Household gas prices dropped by 8.1 percent to 11.43 euros (around CZK 280) per 100 kilowatt-hours, Eurostat reports.