Economica.net – Romanians pay, in nominal terms, among the lowest electricity prices in the EU. Things change at purchasing power parity

The European Statistical Office Eurostat has published data on electricity prices in Europe, and predictably, in nominal terms the prices actually paid by the population, with the capping scheme still in place, are among the lowest in the Union European. Thus, according to Eurostat data, with a level of 14.4 eurocents/kWh, the average price paid by domestic customers in Romania is the fifth lowest among all EU states, after those in Hungary, Bulgaria, Malta and Croatia. At the opposite pole, on average, the highest prices are in Germany, Ireland and Belgium, in that order.

Here is the European price ranking, according to Eurostat:

Eurostat has also published the ranking of electricity prices in the EU in terms of purchasing power parity.

Every time they face this comparison, however, Romanian consumers bring the income argument: even if they pay among the lowest prices in Europe, Romanians say that they have low salaries, and there are even some speeches as if in fact we would pay the highest price from Europe.

That is why we have chosen to present the comparison of electricity prices from the point of view of the standard purchasing power parity (PPS – Purchase Power Parity), basically the purchasing power parity is evaluated which expresses the equivalence between the level of prices expressed in the same currency from different countries.

From this point of view, prices in Romania expressed in PPS (Purchasing Power Standards) are in the upper part of the European ranking. Eurostat grouped European states into six categories, with prices ranging from under 15 to over 35 PPS per 100 kWh. Romania is in the second group, with 34.3.

Here is the Eurostat graph on this topic: