The gas price in Romania also increased by 4.4% , up to EUR 2.7 per 100 kWh, the price is double when compared to the purchasing power, but remains below the EU average.
Electricity prices for the population grew by 6.6% in the EU in the second half of last year compared to the corresponding period of 2011, while natural gas prices rose by 10.3%, according to Eurostat data released Monday.
The average price of energy consumed by the population within the EU increased up to 19.7 per 100 kWh, while the average gas price gas has recorded EUR 7.2 per 100 kWh.
The most abrupt increases in electricity prices were recorded in Cyprus (21%), Greece (15%), Italy (11%), Ireland and Portugal (10% each), Bulgaria, Spain and Poland (9%).
Only three countries have reported declines - Sweden (5%), Hungary (2%) and Finland (1%) - and prices have stagnated in Denmark and Malta.
The lowest prices of the energy consumed by the population were registered in Bulgaria (EUR 9.6 per 100 kWh), Romania (EUR 10.8) and Estonia (EUR 11.2), at the opposite pole we find Denmark (EUR 29, 7), Cyprus (EUR 29.1) and Germany (EUR 26.8 ).
Compared to the purchase power, the lowest prices in electricity have been registered in Finland, France, Luxemburg and Sweden, and the highest were registered in Cyprus, Germany, Poland, Portugal and Hungary.
The average prices for natural gas have recorded the strongest increases in Latvia (21%), Estonia (19%) and Bulgaria (18%) and Slovenia was the only country that reported decrease (8%). Prices have stalled in Belgium, Denmark and Slovakia.
The lowest prices of the natural gas consumed by the population were recorded in Romania (EUR 2.7 per 100 kWh), Slovakia (EUR 5.1) and Estonia (EUR 5.2) and the highest in Sweden (EUR 12, 7), Denmark (EUR 10.8) and Greece (EUR 10.2).
Adjusted to the purchasing power, the households in Luxembourg, UK, Romania, France and Ireland have the cheapest prices in gas , the opposite being found Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Spain and Lithuania.