Global electricity price map

Hover any country to see its current residential price in £/kWh. Colours run from green (cheapest) to red (most expensive), bucketed by global quintile so each band contains roughly 20 % of countries.

Loading map…

Price (£/kWh): < 0.05 0.05 – 0.10 0.10 – 0.15 0.15 – 0.20 ≥ 0.20 No data

Methodology: residential 5 kVA connection, cost of the 300th kWh consumed in the capital city, converted from EUR to GBP at the daily reference rate. Refreshed half-yearly. Iran, North Korea, and Syria are excluded due to lack of published data.

UK vs European neighbours: price comparison

At £0.28/kWh, the UK sits in the upper half of the European league. That is roughly +113.3% vs the global average of £0.13/kWh. Here is how that compares with the UK's closest European trading partners.

Residential electricity prices in the UK and its European neighbours, GBP per kWh, updated June 2026.
Country	Price (£/kWh)	vs. UK
France	£0.17/kWh	▼ -37.0 %
Spain	£0.21/kWh	▼ -23.9 %
Netherlands	£0.23/kWh	▼ -15.8 %
United Kingdom benchmark	£0.28/kWh	—
Italy	£0.28/kWh	▲ +2.3 %
Belgium	£0.30/kWh	▲ +8.7 %
Ireland	£0.32/kWh	▲ +16.7 %
Germany	£0.34/kWh	▲ +23.5 %

Among large European economies, only Italy and (typically) Germany carry a higher residential unit rate than the UK. France, helped by its nuclear fleet, and Spain, helped by abundant solar and the Iberian gas-price decoupling, sit visibly below.

The 10 most expensive and 10 cheapest countries

Two extremes of the global ranking. The cheapest list is dominated by subsidised hydrocarbon producers; the most expensive list is a mix of small island grids and high-tax European markets.

Most expensive (£/kWh)

1 Bermuda £0.35
2 Germany £0.34
3 Ireland £0.32
4 Denmark £0.32
5 Comoros £0.30
6 Lebanon £0.30
7 Belgium £0.30
8 Czechia £0.29
9 Cape Verde £0.29
10 Italy £0.28

Cheapest (£/kWh)

1 Turkmenistan £0.01
2 Sudan £0.01
3 Bahrain £0.01
4 Angola £0.01
5 Ethiopia £0.01
6 Kuwait £0.01
7 Egypt £0.02
8 Bhutan £0.03
9 Uzbekistan £0.03
10 Tajikistan £0.03

Nine of the ten cheapest countries record frequent power cuts. The published kWh price reflects only what the public utility charges, not the cost of the private generators, fuel, and batteries most households also pay for.

Average electricity price by continent

Continent averages do not weight by population — Bermuda counts the same as the United States in North America's mean. Read them as a regional thermometer, not a household quote.

Average residential electricity price by continent, GBP per kWh, updated June 2026.
Continent	Average (£/kWh)	vs. UK
Asia	£0.08/kWh	▼ -71.6 %
South America	£0.11/kWh	▼ -59.4 %
Africa	£0.11/kWh	▼ -58.4 %
Oceania	£0.15/kWh	▼ -46.3 %
North America	£0.17/kWh	▼ -38.4 %
Europe	£0.18/kWh	▼ -35.3 %

Following the UN definition, Central American countries are grouped with North America. Asia averages out lowest because several large producers (Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkmenistan) sell electricity below cost as part of broader hydrocarbon policy.

What determines electricity prices?

The headline kWh figure is the visible end of a long chain. Five structural factors do most of the work — and explain why the UK sits where it does on the world map.

Fuel costs

In Britain, gas still sets the marginal wholesale price for roughly half of all settlement periods. When wholesale gas trebled in 2022, the UK unit rate followed almost in step — even though renewables already covered close to 40 % of generation.

Renewables and grid mix

Hydro-rich countries (Norway, Iceland, Paraguay) and nuclear-heavy ones (France) hold the lowest European prices. The UK is expanding offshore wind and storage, but the savings only show up when wind replaces gas at the margin — not just on average.

Taxes, levies and network charges

Roughly a quarter of a UK bill is policy and network costs: standing charges, social and environmental levies (RO, FiTs, AAHEDC), distribution charges, plus VAT at 5 %. Germany sits higher because it funds renewables almost entirely through retail tariffs.

Demand and weather

British winter peaks remain the single biggest stress on the grid. A cold, still week in January forces gas peakers and emergency imports onto the system, lifting wholesale prices and, via the Ofgem cap, household tariffs in the following review.

Geopolitics and market structure

The UK is a liberalised market — retailers recover the full cost of generation and infrastructure from customer bills rather than from a state subsidy. That makes the headline tariff visible and higher, but it also funds the grid that delivers near-perfect supply reliability.

UK electricity prices: the 2020–2026 evolution

The Ofgem default tariff cap is the single best public record of the British household unit rate. Tracked year by year, it tells the story of a quiet decade interrupted by the largest energy shock since the 1970s — and a slow, uneven return towards normality.

2020

£0.17 Pre-crisis
2021

£0.21 Wholesale spike
2022

£0.34 Energy crisis
2023

£0.27 De-escalation
2024

£0.25 Plateau
2025

£0.27 Rebound
2026

£0.28 Today

What the timeline shows

2020 £0.17/kWh — Default tariff cap at ~17 p/kWh. Wholesale gas and power both stable.
2021 £0.21/kWh — Post-COVID demand recovery and tight gas supply push the cap to ~21 p/kWh.
2022 £0.34/kWh — Wholesale gas trebles after the invasion of Ukraine. The Energy Price Guarantee caps the unit rate at 34 p/kWh.
2023 £0.27/kWh — Wholesale prices ease through the year; the Ofgem cap drops to ~27 p/kWh.
2024 £0.25/kWh — Cap moves in a 22–25 p/kWh band as supply normalises.
2025 £0.27/kWh — Cap rises again in spring 2025 on colder weather and wholesale tightness.
2026 £0.28/kWh — Latest published Selectra benchmark for residential supply in the UK.

What does the future bring?

Three structural shifts are already changing the shape of the British electricity bill — even if the headline cap still moves quarter by quarter.

Dynamic time-of-use tariffs

Half-hourly settlement and the smart-meter rollout make tariffs like Octopus Agile, EDF GoElectric, and OVO Charge Anytime possible. Households that can shift heavy use (EV charging, washing, dishwashing) to off-peak windows are already cutting electricity costs by 20–40 % vs the cap.

Gas-power decoupling

The government's Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) is examining how to stop gas-fired generation from setting the wholesale price in periods dominated by wind and solar. Decoupling, if it happens, would pass more of the renewable cost advantage through to retail tariffs.

Electrification of heat and transport

Heat pumps and EVs are pushing electricity into territory previously served by gas and petrol. Network upgrades, the smart-meter mandate, and the coming heat-pump-friendly tariffs will reshape how the bill is built — typically lower per kWh but for many more kWh per home.

How to protect yourself from price swings

Macro trends set the floor; what you can do at home decides where on that floor your bill lands. Three actions have the largest measurable impact for a typical UK household.

Compare suppliers regularly

The cheapest tariff on the UK market changes every few weeks. Locking in a fixed deal below the Ofgem cap is the single biggest annual saving available — typically £150–£300 for a medium-use household. Run a comparison at least every six months.

Lock in a fixed-rate tariff

A 12- or 24-month fixed tariff insulates the household from wholesale spikes. After the 2022 crisis, locked-in customers paid far less than households on the variable cap. Read the exit fees before you commit, and avoid fixes that price more than 15 % above the current cap.

Cut consumption at the margin

Solar panels, a heat pump, loft insulation, or just a smart-meter time-of-use tariff with EV/HW scheduling all attack the same lever — fewer kWh bought from the grid at peak. The ECO4 scheme covers part of the upfront cost for eligible households.

Electricity prices in every country

All 156 countries with a published residential tariff, sorted from cheapest to most expensive. Prices are converted from EUR to GBP at the daily rate. Iran, North Korea, and Syria are excluded because no reliable published data is available.

Show all 156 countries

Residential electricity prices for every country surveyed, in GBP per kWh.
#	Country	Price (£/kWh)	Continent	Source
1	Turkmenistan TM	£0.01/kWh	Asia	Turkmenergo
2	Sudan SD	£0.01/kWh	Africa	SEDC
3	Bahrain BH	£0.01/kWh	Asia	EWA
4	Angola AO	£0.01/kWh	Africa	ENDE
5	Ethiopia ET	£0.01/kWh	Africa	Ethiopian Electric Power
6	Kuwait KW	£0.01/kWh	Asia	Ministry of Electricity & Water & Renewable Energy
7	Egypt EG	£0.02/kWh	Africa	EEHC
8	Bhutan BT	£0.03/kWh	Asia	Bhutan Power Corporation
9	Uzbekistan UZ	£0.03/kWh	Asia	Uzbekistonmet
10	Tajikistan TJ	£0.03/kWh	Asia	Barki Tojik
11	Qatar QA	£0.03/kWh	Asia	KAHRAMAA
12	Algeria DZ	£0.03/kWh	Africa	Sonelgaz
13	Oman OM	£0.03/kWh	Asia	Nama Supply Company
14	Congo - Kinshasa CD	£0.03/kWh	Africa	SNEL
15	Nepal NP	£0.03/kWh	Asia	NEA
16	Kyrgyzstan KG	£0.03/kWh	Asia	NESK
17	São Tomé & Príncipe ST	£0.03/kWh	Africa	Empresa de Agua e Eletricidade (EMAE)
18	Paraguay PY	£0.04/kWh	South America	ANDE
19	Laos LA	£0.04/kWh	Asia	Electricité du Laos
20	Trinidad & Tobago TT	£0.04/kWh	North America	T&TEC
21	Saudi Arabia SA	£0.04/kWh	Asia	SEC
22	Kazakhstan KZ	£0.04/kWh	Asia	Source
23	Mexico MX	£0.04/kWh	North America	CFE
24	Zambia ZM	£0.04/kWh	Africa	ZESCO
25	Turkey TR	£0.04/kWh	Europe	Source
26	Afghanistan AF	£0.04/kWh	Asia	DABS
27	Azerbaijan AZ	£0.05/kWh	Asia	Azerishiq
28	Ukraine UA	£0.05/kWh	Europe	Source
29	Malawi MW	£0.05/kWh	Africa	ESCOM
30	United Arab Emirates AE	£0.05/kWh	Asia	Source
31	Suriname SR	£0.05/kWh	South America	EBS
32	Bangladesh BD	£0.05/kWh	Asia	BPDB
33	Pakistan PK	£0.05/kWh	Asia	Source
34	Sierra Leone SL	£0.06/kWh	Africa	EDSA
35	Mongolia MN	£0.06/kWh	Asia	Source
36	Georgia GE	£0.06/kWh	Europe	Source
37	Belarus BY	£0.06/kWh	Europe	Belenergo
38	Madagascar MG	£0.06/kWh	Africa	JIRAMA
39	China CN	£0.06/kWh	Asia	State Grid Corporation of China
40	Russia RU	£0.07/kWh	Europe	Source
41	India IN	£0.07/kWh	Asia	Source
42	Taiwan TW	£0.07/kWh	Asia	Taipower
43	Zimbabwe ZW	£0.07/kWh	Africa	ZESA
44	Malaysia MY	£0.07/kWh	Asia	Source
45	Bosnia & Herzegovina BA	£0.07/kWh	Europe	EPBiH
46	Iceland IS	£0.07/kWh	Europe	Source
47	Albania AL	£0.07/kWh	Europe	KESH
48	Argentina AR	£0.08/kWh	South America	Source
49	Ecuador EC	£0.08/kWh	South America	Source
50	Lesotho LS	£0.08/kWh	Africa	Lesotho Electricity Company
51	Indonesia ID	£0.08/kWh	Asia	PLN
52	North Macedonia MK	£0.08/kWh	Europe	EVN
53	Ghana GH	£0.08/kWh	Africa	ECG
54	Botswana BW	£0.08/kWh	Africa	Botswana Power Corporation
55	Peru PE	£0.09/kWh	South America	Source
56	Armenia AM	£0.09/kWh	Europe	ENA
57	Dominican Republic DO	£0.09/kWh	North America	Source
58	Hungary HU	£0.09/kWh	Europe	Source
59	Vietnam VN	£0.10/kWh	Asia	EVN
60	Côte d’Ivoire CI	£0.10/kWh	Africa	Compagnie Ivoirienne d'Electricité
61	Macao SAR China MO	£0.10/kWh	Asia	CEM
62	South Africa ZA	£0.10/kWh	Africa	ESKOM
63	Morocco MA	£0.10/kWh	Africa	Source
64	Cuba CU	£0.10/kWh	North America	MINEM
65	Nigeria NG	£0.10/kWh	Africa	NERC
66	Tunisia TN	£0.10/kWh	Africa	STEG
67	Cameroon CM	£0.10/kWh	Africa	Eneo
68	Tanzania TZ	£0.10/kWh	Africa	TANESCO
69	Canada CA	£0.10/kWh	North America	Source
70	Mozambique MZ	£0.10/kWh	Africa	Electridade de Moçambique (EdM)
71	Thailand TH	£0.10/kWh	Asia	Source
72	Serbia RS	£0.10/kWh	Europe	EPS
73	Eswatini SZ	£0.10/kWh	Africa	Eswatini Electricity Company
74	Bolivia BO	£0.10/kWh	South America	Source
75	Malta MT	£0.11/kWh	Europe	Enemalta
76	Maldives MV	£0.11/kWh	Africa	STELCO
77	South Korea KR	£0.11/kWh	Asia	KEPCO
78	Myanmar (Burma) MM	£0.11/kWh	Asia	Ministry of Electric Power
79	Namibia NA	£0.11/kWh	Africa	Nampower
80	Bulgaria BG	£0.11/kWh	Europe	Source
81	Cambodia KH	£0.12/kWh	Asia	Electricité du Cambodge
82	Panama PA	£0.12/kWh	North America	Source
83	Mauritania MR	£0.12/kWh	Africa	Somelec
84	Brazil BR	£0.12/kWh	South America	Source
85	Croatia HR	£0.13/kWh	Europe	HEP
86	Israel IL	£0.13/kWh	Asia	IEC
87	Jordan JO	£0.14/kWh	Asia	NEPCO
88	Sri Lanka LK	£0.14/kWh	Asia	CEB
89	Philippines PH	£0.14/kWh	Asia	Source
90	Central African Republic CF	£0.14/kWh	Africa	Enerca
91	Papua New Guinea PG	£0.14/kWh	Oceania	PPL
92	Togo TG	£0.15/kWh	Africa	CEET
93	Burkina Faso BF	£0.15/kWh	Africa	Sonabel
94	New Zealand NZ	£0.15/kWh	Oceania	Source
95	United States US	£0.15/kWh	North America	Source
96	Hong Kong SAR China HK	£0.16/kWh	Asia	Source
97	Aruba AW	£0.16/kWh	South America	Elmar
98	Uruguay UY	£0.16/kWh	South America	UTE
99	Australia AU	£0.16/kWh	Oceania	Source
100	Gambia GM	£0.16/kWh	Africa	NAWEC
101	Romania RO	£0.16/kWh	Europe	Source
102	Rwanda RW	£0.16/kWh	Africa	Energy Utility Corporation Limited (EUCL)
103	Costa Rica CR	£0.16/kWh	North America	Source
104	Colombia CO	£0.16/kWh	South America	Source
105	Niger NE	£0.16/kWh	Africa	Société Nigérienne d'Electricité (NIGELEC)
106	Chad TD	£0.16/kWh	Africa	SNE
107	Japan JP	£0.17/kWh	Asia	Source
108	Slovakia SK	£0.17/kWh	Europe	Source
109	Norway NO	£0.17/kWh	Europe	Source
110	Uganda UG	£0.17/kWh	Africa	UMEME
111	Belize BZ	£0.17/kWh	North America	BEL
112	Singapore SG	£0.17/kWh	Asia	Singapore Power
113	France FR	£0.17/kWh	Europe	Source
114	El Salvador SV	£0.18/kWh	North America	Source
115	Moldova MD	£0.18/kWh	Europe	Source
116	Mauritius MU	£0.18/kWh	Africa	CEB
117	Nicaragua NI	£0.18/kWh	North America	Disnorte Dissur
118	Gabon GA	£0.18/kWh	Africa	SEEG
119	Luxembourg LU	£0.18/kWh	Europe	Source
120	Poland PL	£0.19/kWh	Europe	Source
121	Slovenia SI	£0.19/kWh	Europe	ELES
122	Greece GR	£0.19/kWh	Europe	Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator
123	Guatemala GT	£0.19/kWh	North America	Source
124	Mali ML	£0.20/kWh	Africa	Energie du Mali
125	Honduras HN	£0.20/kWh	North America	ENEE
126	Benin BJ	£0.20/kWh	Africa	Société Béninoise d'Energie Electrique (SBEE)
127	Kenya KE	£0.20/kWh	Africa	Kenya Power and Lighting Company
128	Chile CL	£0.21/kWh	South America	Source
129	Senegal SN	£0.21/kWh	Africa	Senelec
130	Lithuania LT	£0.21/kWh	Europe	Source
131	Portugal PT	£0.21/kWh	Europe	Source
132	Sweden SE	£0.21/kWh	Europe	Source
133	Spain ES	£0.21/kWh	Europe	Source
134	Finland FI	£0.21/kWh	Europe	Source
135	Barbados BB	£0.22/kWh	North America	BLPC
136	Estonia EE	£0.22/kWh	Europe	Source
137	Latvia LV	£0.22/kWh	Europe	Source
138	Netherlands NL	£0.23/kWh	Europe	Source
139	Jamaica JM	£0.24/kWh	North America	JPS
140	Bahamas BS	£0.24/kWh	North America	BPL
141	Austria AT	£0.25/kWh	Europe	Source
142	Switzerland CH	£0.25/kWh	Europe	Source
143	Liechtenstein LI	£0.25/kWh	Europe	LKW
144	United Kingdom benchmark UK	£0.28/kWh	Europe	Source
145	Cayman Islands KY	£0.28/kWh	North America	CUC
146	Cyprus CY	£0.28/kWh	Europe	EAC
147	Italy IT	£0.28/kWh	Europe	Source
148	Cape Verde CV	£0.29/kWh	Africa	EDEC
149	Czechia CZ	£0.29/kWh	Europe	Source
150	Belgium BE	£0.30/kWh	Europe	Source
151	Lebanon LB	£0.30/kWh	Asia	Electricité du Liban
152	Comoros KM	£0.30/kWh	Africa	Société Nationale d'Electricité (SONELEC)
153	Denmark DK	£0.32/kWh	Europe	Source
154	Ireland IE	£0.32/kWh	Europe	ESB Networks
155	Germany DE	£0.34/kWh	Europe	Source
156	Bermuda BM	£0.35/kWh	North America	BELCO

Methodology: residential 5 kVA connection, cost of the 300th kWh consumed in the capital city, converted EUR → GBP on the meter-reading day. Prices refreshed half-yearly. Last refresh: 8 June 2026.

Cut your UK electricity bill

The UK is a liberalised market — that means you can switch supplier and tariff to lock in better unit rates without changing wires, meter, or service. Compare today's deals and see how much you could save.

Our Selectra energy expert answers your questions

Which country has the cheapest electricity in the world?

Turkmenistan currently publishes the lowest residential tariff at £0.01/kWh. The price is heavily subsidised through national hydrocarbon revenue, and frequent blackouts mean the headline figure does not reflect the practical cost of keeping the lights on.

Which country has the most expensive electricity?

Bermuda tops the global ranking at £0.35/kWh. Small island grids that import all their fuel — like Bermuda, Comoros, or the Solomon Islands — sit at the top of every league table because they cannot spread generation and transmission costs over a large customer base.

Why is UK electricity more expensive than the world average?

Three structural reasons. First, gas still sets the marginal wholesale price in most settlement periods, so even when wind covers a large share of demand, the last MWh dispatched anchors the tariff. Second, network charges, social and environmental levies, and the residual cost of past policy schemes (RO, FiTs, AAHEDC) add roughly a quarter of the unit rate before VAT. Third, the UK is a liberalised market — retailers recover the full cost of generation and infrastructure from customer bills rather than from a state subsidy.

Do "cheap electricity" rankings include the cost of blackouts?

No — and that is the single biggest distortion in international comparisons. Nine of the ten cheapest countries in this dataset record frequent power cuts. The kWh from the public utility looks cheap on paper, but households routinely spend additional money on private generators, fuel, batteries, and inverters. Those costs sit outside the bill and outside most rankings.

How did the 2022 energy crisis change UK prices?

Between early 2020 and the autumn of 2022, the Ofgem default tariff cap roughly doubled — from about 17 p/kWh to a peak of 34 p/kWh under the Energy Price Guarantee. Wholesale gas trebled after the invasion of Ukraine, and because gas still sets the marginal wholesale price in most British settlement periods, the household tariff followed. The cap has since eased to the mid-twenties, but it remains well above the pre-crisis baseline.

Will renewables and offshore wind lower UK bills?

Eventually — and unevenly. New offshore wind is already cheaper than gas-fired generation when contracted under Contracts for Difference. But under the current British wholesale design, gas often sets the price during the most expensive periods, so the renewable cost advantage only partly reaches retail tariffs. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) is examining how to change that. Decoupling gas from the marginal price would pass more of the savings through to households.

Are dynamic time-of-use tariffs worth switching to?

For a household that can genuinely shift consumption — EV charging overnight, dishwasher or washing machine on a timer, a heat pump that ramps up in the cheapest hours — tariffs like Octopus Agile, EDF GoElectric Overnight, or OVO Charge Anytime typically beat the Ofgem cap by 20–40 % over a year. For households that can't shift load and use most electricity between 4 pm and 7 pm, a flat-rate fixed tariff is usually safer.

Is "green electricity" worth paying more for in the UK?

Most British "100 % renewable" tariffs are backed by REGO certificates (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin) rather than physical sourcing. The certificates are cheap to buy, so a tariff badged green is often only marginally more expensive than its standard equivalent, and sometimes the same price. The genuine premium is in tariffs that source directly from named wind farms or pair with EV / heat-pump time bands — those are the ones that meaningfully change household impact.

How are these prices calculated?

Selectra collects the published residential tariff for a standard 5 kVA connection in each country's capital city, then takes the cost of the 300th kWh consumed in a month. Source values are quoted in euros and converted to GBP at the daily reference rate of 1 EUR = £0.8641. Prices are refreshed every six months from regulator publications and utility tariff schedules; the source link is included in the full country table.

Price of Electricity Across the World (2026): How the UK Compares