The most expensive electricity in the world: where power costs the most

The most expensive electricity in the world is in Bermuda, where households pay $0.464 per kWh, so a home using 300 kWh a month spends about $139 on power. Next are the Cayman Islands ($0.416), Italy ($0.415) and Germany ($0.409). That is 3.1 times the world median of $0.149, and 77 times the cheapest country, Ethiopia.

The 20 most expensive countries

Household and business prices from GlobalPetrolPrices, retrieved October 13, 2026, in US dollars per kWh including taxes. The monthly figure assumes 300 kWh, a modest home without electric heating; fixed connection charges come on top.

Two kinds of expensive: islands and Europe

Almost the whole list falls into two groups. 7 of the 20 are islands with small, isolated grids: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, the Bahamas, Cape Verde, Barbados and Jamaica. Most of them generate much of their power from imported oil products in small plants, pay to ship the fuel in, and have no neighbour to buy from when demand peaks. Their prices track the oil price with a lag, and they are expensive for businesses too.

12 more are on the European mainland: Italy, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. Their story is different. Gas-fired plants often set the wholesale price in European power markets, so expensive gas lifts the price of all electricity. On top of that, household bills carry network charges, levies for renewable subsidies and VAT, which together can make up a large share of the final price. The remaining entry is Guatemala. Our electricity prices in Europe guide ranks the whole continent.

Household vs business rates

In 17 of the 20 most expensive countries, businesses pay less per kWh than households. The gap is widest in Bermuda, where business power costs $0.263, 43% less than the household rate. Large users buy in bulk, often on wholesale-linked contracts, and in many European countries they are partly exempt from the levies that households pay. The exceptions are the United Kingdom, the Bahamas and Barbados, where businesses pay more. In the UK, the regulator caps household unit rates but not business contracts, which is part of why British firms pay more than British homes. See how two of Europe’s expensive markets compare on everything else in Germany vs the United Kingdom.

Expensive is not the same as unaffordable

A high price per kWh hurts less where incomes are high. Measured as a share of average monthly income for the 50 countries where we track income, the heaviest 300 kWh bills are in:

• Honduras: $0.232 per kWh, $70 a month, 25.5% of average monthly income.
• Nicaragua: $0.176 per kWh, $53 a month, 22.2% of average monthly income.
• Guatemala: $0.301 per kWh, $90 a month, 17.0% of average monthly income.
• Philippines: $0.211 per kWh, $63 a month, 15.7% of average monthly income.
• Pakistan: $0.063 per kWh, $19 a month, 15.1% of average monthly income.

1 of these five is also in the 20 most expensive by price. The countries with the world’s highest tariffs are mostly rich, so their bills, while large in dollars, take a modest slice of income. The real squeeze is in middle-income countries where tariffs sit near rich-world levels but wages do not. The Honduras country page shows how power fits alongside fuel and food prices there.

Has it changed?

Not much. Since our first electricity snapshot on August 9, 2026, no country in the top 20 has moved by more than 3% in dollar terms; the largest move was +1% in the Cayman Islands. Electricity tariffs are usually reset a few times a year, so expect steps rather than drift. For the bottom of the table, see the cheapest electricity in the world, and for every country on one page, the electricity price table. If you drive electric, our EV charging cost guide turns these prices into the cost of a full charge.