Energy price rise since 2021

The price of energy in the EU reached record levels in 2022.

The rise, linked to the increase of wholesale energy prices globally, started back in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and growing international demand. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had an aggravating effect.

As the EU imports much of its energy, the rise in import prices from the second quarter of 2021 (not presented in the chart) impacted both producer and consumer prices. Between December 2020 and December 2021, the import price for energy in the euro area more than doubled. This rise was quite unprecedented, as energy import prices, while rather volatile, do not generally change by more than around 30% in the course of a year.

In 2022, Russia’s war on Ukraine and its unilateral decision to suspend deliveries of gas to some EU member states pushed up the price of gas, which caused record high prices for electricity too in the EU.

Heatwaves during summer 2022 put additional pressure on energy markets, on the one hand causing increased demand of energy for cooling, and on the other decreased energy supply due to drought and the consequent reduction in the supply of hydropower.     

The chart presents EU-wide data from January 2021 to January 2023 for:

• producer prices for energy in industry
• consumer prices for electricity, gas and other fuels

Producer and consumer energy prices in the EU 

• Energy prices and security of supply (background information)
• Impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the markets: EU response (background information)