What would the same electricity use cost around the world?
See what the same electricity use would cost in Britain and overseas. We include fixed charges, show the date of each price, and explain why these figures differ.
The GB comparison uses Ofgem’s effective default tariff when the official rate can be verified; other countries use Eurostat’s latest six-month averages, EIA state averages or a dated Canadian benchmark. Reporting periods differ.
COMPARE TO BRITAIN
Selecting a comparison based on your country. You can change it at any time.
EU figures use Eurostat’s 2,500–4,999 kWh household band. US state and Canadian figures are observed residential averages at different usage levels. Changing the slider illustrates annual costs, not an individual tariff quote.
Britain · Ofgem defaultCurrent price cap
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France · household averageFetching latest published period…
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Illustrative equivalent annual bill difference—
Fetching published prices and ECB currency conversion.
THE TAX DIFFERENCE
Selected country: FranceTax basis: Published household charges
Loading tax components and source information…
Domestic electricity VAT can change. GB prices shown here use the published effective tariff and its verified VAT treatment; European comparisons use Eurostat’s measured tax levels rather than subtracting statutory headline rates.
Checking published international data…
THE COST BEHIND THE UK UNIT RATE
The standing charge changes everything.
Unit price—
Daily standing charge—
Annualised fixed charge—
Effective price at your consumption—
Checking the applicable Ofgem price cap…
At low consumption, Britain's fixed daily charge accounts for an especially large share of the effective kWh price. It is included in the UK illustration, not added again to other countries' all-inclusive averages.
PRICE HISTORY · OFFICIAL PUBLISHED DATA
How has the price changed?
Historical average household electricity prices for the selected country. Eurostat publishes six-month observations; this is not a record of daily retail tariffs. Tax treatment follows your selection above.
Euro cents / kWh
Select a country to view verified historical observations.
WHY STANDING CHARGES DIFFER
Britain, France and Bulgaria don't bill in the same way.
Britain
Awaiting Ofgem rate
Ofgem's average capped electricity standing charge plus a separate p/kWh rate. Includes network and supplier fixed-cost allowances.
France
€15.86/month
EDF Tarif Bleu, 6 kVA, single rate, effective 1 August 2026. Monthly fixed subscription; other French suppliers and tariff plans can differ.
Bulgaria
No separate daily charge
In Electrohold’s published household single-rate example for western Bulgaria, the listed energy and network charges are usage-based, rather than a separate daily standing charge. Tariffs can differ by region and supplier.
The British and French cards use published example tariffs; the third shows Bulgaria. Household price averages cannot be used to derive a separate standing charge.
DATA SOURCES & METHODOLOGY
Where these figures come from.
Eurostat's nrg_pc_204 series averages actual household prices over six months within consumption bands. Prices include taxes, network fees and fixed charges, expressed as an effective per-kWh figure. For all 27 EU countries we take band DC and retrieve two price levels from the same reporting half-year: I_TAX (all taxes included) and X_VAT (excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes/levies). No separate standing charge is added to these figures.
The United States figures are residential revenue divided by electricity sold for each of the 50 states, from EIA. They include normal retail charges as reflected in utility revenues, but do not have an equivalent VAT-exclusive breakdown. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel use clearly dated GlobalPetrolPrices residential benchmarks, including applicable taxes and fees. These are not individual tariff offers; regional prices vary and benchmark consumption differs from Britain and Eurostat. These non-European prices are not necessarily measured at the same usage as the Eurostat DC band. The UK figure is different: a currently effective GB-wide average price-cap illustration for default electricity tariffs paid by Direct Debit, combining the unit rate with 365 days of standing charge. It is therefore a more up-to-date tariff snapshot than the European figures. It doesn't represent every British customer's actual tariff or what was paid on a particular day. Domestic electricity is normally subject to 5% VAT in Britain, but its capped rates still include policy and system charges. The excluding-VAT view is not the cost of generation.
Currency conversions use the latest available ECB euro, sterling, US dollar, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and Israeli shekel reference rates if retrievable. When the exchange rate or a country's verified price isn't available, the site displays unavailable rather than inventing a monetary gap. The annualised illustration assumes the published price stays constant for 12 months; it does not forecast next year's bills.
These price differences are not estimates of the amount caused by renewables, nuclear, gas, taxation or curtailment. Those influences require separate analysis. NESO balancing costs shown elsewhere on this site are already embedded within system costs and must not be added to retail tariffs again.
Sources and tariff references for all comparisons: