Electricity Prices by Country (2026)
Compare typical residential electricity prices per kWh across 23 countries, plus the main retailers in each — then try the cost calculators.
Electricity costs 6.6 times more per kilowatt-hour in Ireland than in India. That single fact does more to your yearly bill than any appliance you could buy, and it is why a running-cost figure copied from a foreign site is usually wrong for you.
This page collects typical residential prices per kilowatt-hour across 23 countries, with the main retailers in each, so you can find your own number and use it in every calculator on the site. The median across these countries is about $0.30/kWh.
Price comparison (USD per kWh)
Local prices converted to US dollars for a like-for-like comparison. Bars are relative to the most expensive country. Pick any country with its own page to see what a kilowatt-hour costs there in detail.
What you are actually paying for
The number on this page is the all-in price: what you pay divided by what you used. It bundles three very different things, and knowing the split explains most of the gap between countries.
- Energy — generating the electricity. Typically a third to a half of a residential bill. This is the part that moves with gas prices, droughts and carbon costs, and the only part a competitive retailer can really compete on.
- Networks — the wires that bring it to your meter, plus metering and system operation. Usually a quarter to a third. It is regulated, roughly fixed, and barely responds to how much you use, which is why cutting consumption never cuts a bill proportionally.
- Taxes and levies — VAT or sales tax, plus whatever the country funds through the bill: renewable support, social tariffs, nuclear decommissioning, efficiency schemes. This is where countries diverge most. Some add over 40% on top; others almost nothing.
Two countries can generate at the same cost and still land 15 cents apart once networks and levies are added. That is why comparing "the price of electricity" between countries is really comparing three policies at once.
Why the differences are so large
- What the grid runs on. Hydro and domestic gas are cheap and stable; imported LNG and oil are neither. Countries that must ship their fuel in pay for the shipping in every kilowatt-hour.
- How exposed the market is to gas. In most European markets the last plant needed to meet demand sets the price for everyone, and that plant is usually gas-fired. A gas shock therefore raises the price of hydro and nuclear power too.
- Taxes and what they fund. Germany's price is high partly by design: decades of renewable build-out were financed through the bill rather than the budget.
- Density and distance. Small dense countries recover network costs across many customers per kilometre of cable. Large sparse ones do not.
- Whether prices are capped. Some markets regulate the default tariff, which smooths spikes but also delays the falls.
Main retailers by country
Indicative standard-tariff prices for the largest providers — switch between them inside any calculator using the country and provider selectors.
United States: Duke Energy $0.13 · Florida Power & Light $0.14 · Con Edison $0.28 · PG&E $0.33
United Kingdom: Octopus Energy £0.23 · British Gas £0.25 · EDF Energy £0.24 · E.ON Next £0.25 · OVO Energy £0.24
Ireland: Electric Ireland 0.35 € · Bord Gáis Energy 0.34 € · SSE Airtricity 0.31 €
Germany: E.ON 0.41 € · Vattenfall 0.40 € · EnBW 0.39 € · Yello 0.38 €
France: EDF 0.20 € · Engie 0.21 € · TotalEnergies 0.18 €
Spain: Iberdrola 0.12 € · Endesa 0.10 € · Naturgy 0.12 € · Repsol 0.12 € · TotalEnergies 0.10 €
Italy: Enel Energia 0.14 € · Eni Plenitude 0.11 € · A2A 0.14 €
Portugal: EDP 0.22 € · Galp 0.21 € · Endesa 0.22 €
Netherlands: Vattenfall 0.26 € · Eneco 0.31 € · Essent 0.28 €
Belgium: Engie Electrabel 0.37 € · Luminus 0.36 € · TotalEnergies 0.37 €
Canada: Hydro-Québec C$0.08 · BC Hydro C$0.11 · Toronto Hydro C$0.17
Australia: AGL A$0.33 · Origin Energy A$0.32 · EnergyAustralia A$0.34
Using the right number
An average is a starting point, not your tariff. The figure on your own bill beats everything here, and every calculator on this site lets you type it in. Three things worth checking before you trust an average:
- Standing charges. Many countries bill a fixed daily amount on top of the per-kWh rate. A low unit price with a high standing charge can cost more overall than the reverse.
- Time of use. If your tariff has cheap and expensive hours, a single average hides the fact that moving the dishwasher and the dryer is worth real money.
- Season. Prices published mid-year rarely match a January bill.
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