Electricity prices were a popular topic in global headlines in 2024. President-elect Donald Trump ran a campaign based on promises to slash energy prices for United States consumers. Ukraine is facing a brutal winter with punishing electricity costs on top of its already stressed and war-stricken economy. Europe is facing ever-higher rates of energy poverty and is desperately seeking solutions. But while problems surrounding energy prices are widespread, they are not exactly global.
Around the world, people are paying vastly different prices for their energy. Prices can vary wildly between and even within countries. The four primary factors impacting your utility bill are the cost of the fuel itself, the cost of services associated with bringing that energy to your home, the weather – which impacts those services as well as the availability of variable energy sources such as solar and wind power, and, of course, the amount of energy you consume. Each of these factors is heavily influenced by where in the world you are located. These four basic factors are each heavily dependent on other local and regional conditions such as infrastructure, geography, domestic energy resources, energy policy, and taxes and levies.
Some of the highest energy prices in the world can be found in countries that charge their own residents residential end-user electricity prices, including Denmark, Belgium, and Sweden. Meanwhile, other countries, especially energy-rich ones, subsidize their electricity so significantly that energy is virtually free for those who live there.
So who is paying the most and who is paying the least to keep the lights on around the world?
Source: oilprice.com