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In the interest of Hungarian families, the government will maintain the reduction of utility bills up to the average consumption level, the Ministry of Energy announced.
Based on Eurostat‘s latest data release for the first half of 2023, gas was the cheapest for residential consumers in Hungary. Also, data from the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority, based on an up-to-date international price comparison, shows that among households in Member States, electricity and gas were the least expensive for Hungarians in September this year.
According to the ministry’s statement, the war and the Brussels sanctions led to a drastic price increase on the international energy market last year. Hungary’s energy bill has increased by around HUF 4,000 billion (EUR 10.5 billion) from 2021 to 2022. Despite the explosive cost increases, the government has kept the reduced prices in place until average consumption.
The Eurostat data shows that the situation of Hungarian families remains the most favorable in Europe when looking at average energy prices.
Gas was the cheapest for household consumers in Hungary in the first half of 2023, while electricity was second slightly behind Bulgaria. At the other end of the ranking, Dutch households paid seven times more for gas and four times more for electricity.
The average EU price was two and a half times higher for electricity and three and a half times higher for natural gas. For the first six months of this year, the most dramatic price increase of 953 percent was recorded in the Netherlands, where electricity prices have risen by about ten times. Latvia, Romania, and Austria are the leaders in gas price increases, with tariffs more than doubling in all three Member States.
The government is easing the burden on Hungarian families by maintaining the protection of their utility bills,the ministry’ statement says. In the first three quarters of this year, the government provided HUF 1,105 billion (EUR 2.9 billion) in utility subsidies, and in the last three months it will cover the related costs of natural gas and district heating services with an additional HUF 255 billion (EUR 666 million).
The Utility Protection Fund will guarantee reduced prices for domestic consumers next year with HUF 1,340 billion (EUR 3.5 billion) in the 2024 budget.
Via MTI, Featured image: Pixabay