Updated at 4pm: Adds PN statement

Household electricity prices in Malta are the seventh lowest in the EU, data issued by the EU statistical office on Wednesday shows.

But amid the running controversy about whether consumers are being overcharged, Eurostat also said that Malta last year saw the third highest increase in electricity prices across the EU, with an increase of 7.1 per cent.

Household electricity prices in the European Union slightly decreased (-0.2%) on average, between the second half of 2016 and the second half of 2017, to stand at €20.5 per 100 kWh. Prices ranged from below €10 per 100 kWh in Bulgaria to more than €30 per 100 kWh in Denmark and Germany.

When expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) - an artificial common reference currency that eliminates general price level differences between countries - it can be seen that, relative to the cost of other goods and services, the lowest household electricity prices were found in Finland (13.0 PPS per 100 kWh), Luxembourg (13.4) and the Netherlands (14.0), and the highest in Germany (28.8), Portugal (28.0), Belgium (26.4), Romania (26.0) and Poland (25.4).

Taxes and levies in the EU made up on average over a third (40%) of the electricity price charged to households.

The share of taxes and levies varied significantly between member states, ranging from two-thirds in Denmark (69% of household electricity price is made up of taxes and levies) and over half in Germany (55%) and Portugal (52%) to just 5% in Malta in the second half of 2017. On average in the EU, taxes and levies accounted for more than a third (40%) of household electricity prices.

There was no explanation as to why the electricity prices were shown to have risen, when there was no official increase last year. The finance minister, was among those who called on the National Statistics Office, which supplies the data to Eurostat, to investigate. 

In a statement, the PN said the Eurostat had confirmed that the Maltese were paying more than they should  for energy because they were receiving bills more frequently.

This, the PN said, was also confirmed by an analysis of 100 bills it carried out.

Consumers were receiving higher bills when lower tariffs were one of the main promises made by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat before the 2013 election.

The 7.1% increase in the energy rates for Maltese and Gozitans should also be taken in context of what was revealed by The Guardian that someone made a profit of $40 million in just one year through the bad deal signed with Socar for the sale of LNG gas for the new Delimara power station. This money could have been used to further lower rates.

Meanwhile, officials said one possible explanation was that consumers were using more electricity than before, and therefore were paying for some of their consumption according to a higher band of tariffs.