According to data released by the EU statistical service Eurostat, Cyprus saw the biggest rise in household electricity prices in 2005, rising way above the EU average.
On average, electricity prices (all taxes included) for households in the EU25 rose by 4.6% between January 2005 and January 2006, whereas they rose by 31.4% in Cyprus over the same period. This was the fastest rise in the EU.
Prices (excluding VAT) for industry in the EU25 increased by 15.5% over the same period and by 38.4% in Cyprus.
Oil-price effect?
The same data also show that the tax portion of these prices was 14.4% in Cyprus–not particulary high compared with countries such as Denmark, where it is more than 50% , or Netherlands, where it is more than 40%.
Although we could not get hold of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus to confirm this, a good guess for the fast increase is Cyprus’ huge dependence on oil for electricity generation.
While other countries have gas, cola or nuclear power, Cyprus depends for around 95% of its electrcity generation on oil, the prices of which rocketed in 2005.
Over a longer time period, household and industrial electricity prices in the EU15 rose in total by 9% and 31% respectively between January 2000 and January 2006.
Eurostat notes that price changes between January 2005 and January 2006 varied significantly between Member States.
For households, the largest price rises were observed in Cyprus (+31.4%), Malta (+23.3%) and the United Kingdom (+14.2%), while prices remained stable in Latvia and Lithuania and fell in Belgium (-2.6%) and Austria (-5.2%).
Prices for industry increased by more than a quarter between January 2005 and January 2006 in Cyprus (+38.4%), the United Kingdom (+36.2%), Sweden (+30.5%) and Belgium (+25.0%), while prices remained stable in France, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta and fell in Finland (-1.7%) and Slovakia (-18.8%).
Denmark the highest actual cost
In absolute values, household electricity prices were highest in January 2006 in Denmark (23.62 euro per 100 kWh), followed by Italy (21.08), the Netherlands (20.87) and Germany (18.32). The lowest prices were observed in Greece (7.01), Lithuania (7.18), Estonia (7.31) and Latvia (8.29). In Cyprus, the price was EUR 14.31 per 100 kWh.
When adjusted for purchasing power, household electricity prices in Greece (8.01 PPS3 per 100 kWh) remained the cheapest, followed by the United Kingdom (9.05), Finland (9.38) and France (10.92), while the highest prices were recorded in Slovakia (24.48), Italy (20.23), Poland (20.05) and the Netherlands (19.15). In Cyprus the price at PPS was EUR 15.01 per 100 kWh.
The share of taxation in household electricity prices varied greatly between Member States, ranging from around 5% in Malta, the United Kingdom and Portugal to more than 40% in Denmark (58%) and the Netherlands (42%). In Cyprus it was 14.4%
Cyprus has high industrial prices
Industrial electricity prices were highest in Italy (12.08 euro per 100 kWh), Cyprus (11.36) and Ireland (10.11), and lowest in the Baltic Member States, Latvia (4.09), Lithuania (4.98) and Estonia (5.11).
However, when adjusted for purchasing power, Hungary (12.13 PPS per 100 kWh) and Cyprus (11.92) recorded the highest industrial electricity prices, and Finland (4.90) and Sweden (4.98) the lowest.
Fiona Mullen
