According to the industry regulator the ERSE, the fees and taxes in Portugal represent about 30 percent of the total price paid by consumers, and it is not possible to make a comparison with the other countries of the European Union (EU) because Eurostat does not publish the data of this component separately.


Excluding taxes, and comparing only the energy and network components for the consumer (in the annual consumption band between 2,500 and 5,000 kilowatt/hour (kWh), which is the most common in Portugal), the regulator stated that “prices in Portugal are lower than in Spain and the average of the Euro Area and the European Union”, with Portugal appearing “among the countries where the energy and grid component is lower”.


The analysis carried out by the regulator also showed that, in the first half of this year, Portugal recorded, for the first time since 2014, a lower average electricity price for domestic consumers than in the euro area.


According to ERSE, “the prices charged in Portugal are lower than the prices in Spain, the average prices of the 19 Euro Area countries and the prices of the 28 European Union countries. It can also be seen that the lowest prices were found in Eastern European countries”.
Thus, while in the component of energy and grid prices (excluding taxes and duties), in the first half, Portugal “improved its relative position in the list of countries” of the EU, representing this variable 71 percent of the total price paid, “Portugal is among the countries with the highest proportion of taxes and duties in the final price excluding VAT”, which stood at 29 percent.


“An analysis of the evolution of prices without VAT in Portugal, Spain and the Euro Area revealed lower prices in Portugal until the 1st half of 2016, a situation that is repeated in the 1st half of 2019”, the regulator said.


With regard to natural gas, in domestic consumption “prices in Portugal are in line with those in Spain, are lower than the average prices of the 19 countries of the Euro Area and higher than the average prices of the 28 countries of the European Union”, with lower prices being recorded in the Eastern European countries.