Dutch gas and electricity prices among the highest in Europe

Dutch consumers have to pay higher more than the average for the rest of European Union for their gas and electricity. The abolition of the MEP levy of 52 euro on 1 January 2007 has had no effect on this.

Dutch electricity almost the most expensive in Europe

The consumer price of electricity in the Netherlands is one of the highest in Europe. In 2007, electricity only costs more in  Denmark and Italy. Consumers in the ten new member states pay less for their electricity on average than those in the EU 15 countries.

Electricity prices for consumers in  Europe, 1 January 2007

Higher basic price pushes electricity prices up

At the beginning of the 1990s the price of electricity in the Netherlands was still lower than the average for the EU 15. Now the Netherlands has one of the highest electricity prices in Europe. Since 1991 Dutch electricity prices have more than doubled, while prices in the EU 15 countries have risen by one fifth on average. Half of the Dutch price increase is the result of a higher basic price, the other half is caused by higher levies and VAT.

Electricity prices in the Netherlands and Europe

Dutch gas price high too

The price of natural gas in the Netherlands is also one of the highest in Europe, in spite of its extensive domestic reserves. The average Dutch consumer paid 0.65 euro for a cubic metre of gas on 1 January 2007. Within the EU only the Danes, Swedes and Germans pay more for natural gas.

Gas prices for consumers in  Europe, 1 January 2007

Gas price higher because of taxes

The Dutch gas price has risen by considerably more than the average in he EU 15 since 2000, on the one hand because of the increase in the basic price to the average of the EU 15, on the other hand because of the strong increase in levies and VAT. In 1999 these taxes were around the same level as in the rest of the EU 15; now they are nearly 80 percent higher.

Gas prices in the Netherlands and Europe

Henk Verduin and Joost Huurman