IEA: "Korean Household Electricity Prices Are the Lowest Among Major OECD Countries"

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] South Korea's residential electricity rates were found to be the cheapest among major OECD countries. Industrial electricity rates were also analyzed to be below average.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)'s 'Residential Electricity Prices by Country' data on the 19th, South Korea's residential electricity rate last year was recorded at 8.02 pence per kWh (approximately 116 KRW). This is the lowest level among the 26 major OECD member countries of the IEA.

As of 2018, Turkey had the cheapest residential electricity rates, with South Korea ranking second. However, last year, South Korea's electricity rate dropped from 8.28 pence to 8.02 pence, while Turkey's rose from 7.79 pence to 8.29 pence, reversing the rankings.

The average residential electricity rate among the 26 OECD countries that are IEA members was 16.45 pence per kWh, with South Korea's rate being less than half of the average.

The country with the highest residential electricity rate was Germany at 26.17 pence per kWh, more than three times that of South Korea. Denmark, which had the highest residential electricity rate in 2018, saw its rate decrease from 26.84 pence to 25.18 pence last year, placing Germany at number one.

Last year, South Korea's industrial electricity rate was 7.43 pence per kWh (approximately 107 KRW), slightly below the average of 8.56 pence among 24 surveyed countries. Italy had the highest industrial electricity rate at 14.50 pence, overwhelmingly higher than other countries such as the UK, which was second highest at 11.53 pence.

South Korea's residential electricity rate was about 108% of the industrial rate, showing the smallest gap between residential and industrial electricity rates among major countries. The average electricity rates among surveyed countries were 16.45 pence per kWh for residential and 8.56 pence for industrial, with residential rates being about twice as high. In Denmark, where the gap was the largest, residential rates were four times higher than industrial rates.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.