MADRID, 31 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -
Spain was the European Union country in which the prices of natural gas bills for retail consumers (households) fell the most in the first half of 2022 compared to the second half of 2021, according to the data published by Eurostat this Monday.
Specifically, in Spain the price that households paid for natural gas in the first half of 2021 was 8.97 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), including all applicable taxes, which represents a drop of 17.10%. compared to 10.82 cents in the second half of 2021.
Only three other countries in the European Union as a whole registered a decrease in their natural gas prices compared to the period from July to December. Behind Spain were Greece (-12.43%), Hungary (-4.59%) and Italy (-1.89%). On the contrary, the largest increases occurred in the Czech Republic (82.31%), Estonia (47.47%) and Lithuania (43.17%).
Compared to the first half of 2021, only Hungary registered lower prices, with a decrease of 5.21%. Spain, on the other hand, was the eighth country in which gas prices rose the least in bills, with an increase of 29.81%. On the opposite side, citizens of four countries saw their bill more than double: Estonia (154.25%), Lithuania (110.39%), Bulgaria (107.61%) and Belgium (100.64%).
In absolute terms, Spain was the eighth country in which more was paid for natural gas between January and June. It was behind Sweden (22.16 cents per kWh), Denmark (16 cents), the Netherlands (12.93 cents), Estonia (11.06 cents), the Czech Republic (10.10 cents), Italy (9 .86 cents) and Belgium (9.39 cents).
The drop in natural gas prices has not been registered in a similar way in the prices paid in electricity bills. In this case, Spain was the ninth country in the EU in which the prices per kilowatt hour increased the most in the first half of 2022 compared to the second half of 2021. They registered a growth of 9.06%, reaching 30, 71 cents per kWh.
The largest increases were registered in the Czech Republic (62.45%), Romania (47.44%) and Denmark (32.22%), while the largest decreases were observed in the Netherlands (-58.94%), Latvia (-30.43%) and Slovenia (-18.76%).
In year-on-year terms, Spain is the seventh country in which prices grew the most (32.20%). Ahead were Greece (37.20%), Italy (37.89%), Romania (53.78%), Estonia (55.29%), Denmark (57.21%) and the Czech Republic (69.76%). ). On the contrary, the largest decreases compared to the first half of 2021 were those of the Czech Republic (-53.55%), Slovenia (-16.37%) and Latvia (-6.49%).
In absolute terms, the country in which electricity was most expensive between January and June was Denmark, with a cost of 45.59 cents per kWh. LE is followed by Belgium, with 33.77 cents; Germany, with 32.79 cents; Italy, with 31.15 cents; and Spain, with 30.71 cents. The cheapest electricity was from the Netherlands (5.95 cents), Hungary (9.48 cents) and Bulgaria (10.93 cents).
