Electricity and gas prices for households in the Czech Republic saw significant increases in the first half of the year, putting the country at the higher end of the price range compared to other Visegrád Group (V4) member nations—Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. These findings come from data published by the European statistical office, Eurostat.

For electricity, the average price for Czech households increased by 26% to 0.3212 euros (approximately 7.9 CZK) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the first half of the year. In Slovakia, households paid only 0.1892 euros per kWh, in Poland 0.1769 euros, and in Hungary just 0.1161 euros per kWh. The European Union’s average electricity price for households during the same period was 0.289 euros per kWh.

The Netherlands had the highest electricity prices within the EU, reaching 0.475 euros per kWh. The sharp 953% year-on-year increase in the Netherlands was attributed to various factors, including the termination of tax relief. On the other hand, households in Bulgaria paid the least, at 0.1137 euros per kWh.

The data also revealed that the average price of gas for Czech households increased by 57% to 0.1138 euros (approximately 2.8 CZK) per kWh in the first half of the year. In Poland, households paid 0.0683 euros per kWh, while in Slovakia, it was 0.0571 euros per kWh. The lowest gas price was found in Hungary, at only 0.0337 euros per kWh. The European Union’s average gas price for households was 0.1187 euros per kWh during the same period.

For both electricity and gas, households in the Netherlands had the highest prices in the EU. In April, Eurostat published data indicating that gas prices for Czech households experienced the highest year-on-year increase among all European Union countries in the second half of the previous year. However, these figures were contested by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who labeled them as misleading, noting that they were based on price offers from suppliers and did not reflect actual payments made by customers.

Eurostat obtained the latest published figures from the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ). ČSÚ chairman Marek Rojíček announced in September that the office would continue to publish average offer prices for energy while labeling realized prices as primary data in the future. This primary data would also be provided to Eurostat for international comparisons.

Article by Prague Forum