KSH: Hungarian energy bills drop closer to EU average

Once among the most expensive in Europe, Hungarian household energy prices have dropped to somewhere in the middle range for the EU, according to Hungary’s Central Statistics Office (KSH). Between 2005 and 2013, a period when inflation in Hungary increased by 50%, household energy prices here almost doubled.

The government began cutting utility fees, and inflation began to slow in 2013. In that year, household energy bills went down by 8.5%, and overall prices rose only 1.7%.Hungary's electricity prices were actually the highest in the EU in the first halves of 2009, 2010 and 2011. In the first half of 2013, Hungarian energy consumers paid the eighth highest electricity prices in the EU.

Gas prices have also declined. Between the first half of 2010 through to the start of 2012, household gas prices were among the most expensive in Europe, but in the first half of 2013, they dropped to 13th place. Consumption has been on the decrease since 2005 while the proportion of energy imports has been rising modestly, the KSH said.

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