Business gas prices fall across EU, but tax share increases

Average gas prices for non-household consumers across the European Union rose slightly in the first half of 2026 compared with the previous six months, although they remained below levels recorded a year earlier, according to Eurostat. The average price stood at €0.06 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), representing an increase of 1.8 per cent compared with the second half of 2025 but a decrease of 6.7 per cent against the first half of 2025. The figures cover non-household consumers with annual gas consumption of between 10,000 gigajoules (GJ) and 100,000 GJ. The share of taxes in the final price increased during the period, reaching 17.5 per cent in the first half of 2026. This compared with 15.9 per cent in the second half of 2025 and 16.4 per cent in the first half of that year, indicating that taxes accounted for a larger proportion of business gas bills despite the annual fall in average prices. Sweden recorded the highest business gas prices in the EU, at €0.11 per kWh, followed by Finland at €0.09 and the Netherlands at €0.08. The lowest prices were registered in Bulgaria and Belgium, where non-household consumers paid an average of €0.04 per kWh. Gas prices fall in 24 EU countries The downward trend over the year was widespread, with 24 of the 25 EU countries for which data was available reporting lower average gas prices for non-household consumers in the first half of 2026 than in the same period of 2025. Belgium and France recorded the largest decreases, with prices falling by 13.1 per cent in both countries. Lithuania followed with a decline of 12.5 per cent, while Hungary registered an 11.6 per cent reduction and Bulgaria a 10.8 per cent fall. Sweden was the only country to record an increase, with business gas prices rising by 3.1 per cent compared with the first half of 2025. The figures point to broadly lower gas costs for businesses across the EU over the year, although the rise in the tax component highlights a change in the composition of the final price.