Households in Malta paid the third-lowest electricity rates across the EU in the second half of last year, as figures released yesterday showed.

According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, Malta registered the largest drop in electricity tariffs, at 26.2 per cent, compared to the second half of 2013.

The average rate of electricity in Malta was €12.50 per 100kWh, the same as Romania.

Only two other countries had cheaper rates: Bulgaria, at €9, and Hungary, at €11.50. Denmark topped the list at the opposite end, with households paying an average of €30 per 100kWh.

Electricity tariffs in Malta were increasingly competitive, compared to the rest of the Eurozone, where rates averaged at €22.10 per 100kWh.

Taxes accounted for five per cent of the rates in Malta, similar to the UK, but far lower than countries like Denmark and Germany, where taxes made up almost half the amount consumers pay.

Electricity rates were cut by an average of 25 per cent for households last year, in line with a government pledge to lower utility tariffs. A similar decrease was registered in April of this year for commercial entities.