Filenews 16 January 2026 - by Angelos Angelodimou
In the top ten with the highest retail electricity prices, among the countries of the European Union, is Cyprus.
The country's not so flattering position emerges after the data issued yesterday by the European Commission in relation to the development of the natural gas and electricity markets, during the second quarter of 2025, as far as the EU countries are concerned.
In particular, according to specific EU data, the retail price of electricity for households in Cyprus stood at €309.5 per megawatt hour (30.9 cents per kilowatt hour, to the final consumer) during the 2nd quarter of 2025, ranking our country in the 10th most expensive position among EU countries.
It is noted that the average of EU countries was €246 per megawatt hour (24.6 cents per kilowatt hour). The most expensive country during the period under review was Germany with €399.6 per megawatt hour, while the cheapest country was Hungary with €91.8 per megawatt hour.
Indicatively, in Greece, during the second quarter of 2025, the retail price of electricity stood at €232.6 per megawatt hour, a price that ranks the country in 19th place, below the EU average.
According to the Commission's analysis, retail electricity prices for households in EU capitals increased marginally by 3% in the second quarter of 2025 (average €246/MWh). This, as both taxes and network costs have increased. In addition, there was significant variation across Member States, with many countries experiencing double-digit percentage increases (e.g. Austria, Luxembourg, Poland) and others experiencing large reductions in retail prices due to lower energy costs (e.g. Slovenia, Estonia, France).
Consumption stable
In addition to the above, other interesting data emerge, which are included in the EU analysis. Among them, it is noted that electricity consumption in the EU remained stable (0.4%) compared to the second quarter of 2024. At national level, seventeen Member States recorded an increase in electricity consumption, while the remaining countries stagnated or decreased.
Demand levels for the second quarter of 2025 were still below the pre-crisis average (-6%, compared to the 2015-2019 range). In addition, the share of renewables remained stable at 52% in the second quarter of 2025 (the same as in the second quarter of 2024), while the share of fossil fuels increased slightly to 25% (from 24% in the second quarter of 2024).
Electric vehicles
The European Commission makes special reference to the impressive increase in sales of electric vehicles. It is noted that over 720 thousand new electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in the second quarter of 2025 in the passenger car sector in the EU, marking an annual increase of almost 30% compared to the second quarter of 2024. This translates to a 23% share of electric vehicles in the EU passenger car market, which is lower than the market share of electric vehicles in China (57%), but more than twice the market share recorded in the US (10%).
The largest share of new electric vehicle sales was recorded in Sweden, where 62% of all cars sold in the second quarter of 2025 were electric. Sweden, as well as Denmark (60%), Finland (54%) and the Netherlands (52%) were among the markets where more than half of all passenger cars sold were battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.
A few days ago, the Cyprus Statistical Service had issued the latest data regarding the purchase of vehicles in our country. During the period January – December 2025, passenger saloon car registrations increased by 6.2% and reached 40,778, compared to 38,410 in the corresponding period of 2024. The share of petrol saloon cars in the total of this category of vehicles decreased to 42.0% (from 48.6% in the corresponding period of 2024), as did the share of diesel cars (from 10.3% in 2024 to 8.9% in 2025). In contrast, the share of electric (from 4.0% in 2024 to 4.7% in 2025) and hybrids (from 37.1% to 44.3%) increased.
