Household spending on electricity and gas saw meaningful changes in 2023. Fewer families received energy payments than in 2022, a year marked by pandemic effects, the Ukraine conflict, and the resulting energy squeeze. Yet 2023 also remained below the pre-pandemic level of 2019, illustrating ongoing price adjustments and evolving consumption habits across households in North America and Europe alike.
CaixaBank Research analyzed anonymized account data and identified a clear downward trend in electricity and gas outlays during 2023. The typical monthly expense hovered around 108 euros, well under the 138 euros recorded in 2022, and below the 115 euros households paid on average in 2019 before the pandemic and the Ukraine invasion. The shift reflects a mix of price corrections and changing energy use patterns as households adapt to evolving energy markets.
Overall, the 2023 average monthly electricity and gas bills were roughly 30 euros cheaper than in 2019, and about 6 percent lower than the pre-pandemic baseline, which equates to around seven euros less per month on average. The 2023 energy price correction contributed to this trend, but the story runs deeper than a simple price drop.
Eurostat’s early-2023 data show Spanish households faced the lowest end-user kilowatt-hour price in 13 years for that period. The European Commission’s statistics office tracks what end users pay for electricity, including taxes. Between January and July, prices were 76% lower than the previous year’s peak, which had been driven by the Ukraine crisis, and 24.4% cheaper than in 2020, when demand was dampened by the pandemic. These patterns echo broader shifts in energy markets seen across Canada and the United States as well.
CaixaBank Research notes that the decline in household electricity and gas bills relative to 2019 is not due solely to falling prices. A key factor is reduced household consumption. The study emphasizes that smaller price changes from 2019 to 2023 were offset by households actively cutting energy use. Economists Zoel Martín and Josep Mestres highlight this as part of the 2023 spending landscape (CaixaBank Research).
Water, electricity, gas and telephone
The report analyzes how total household expenditure evolved using direct debit payments for essential services—water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone—from CaixaBank customers since 2019. The data suggest that Covid-19 restrictions tempered consumption, a trend mirrored across economies. After a 4 percent dip during the disruption, spending rose in the following two years, with expenditure via direct debit up 6.4 percent in 2021 and 11.8 percent in 2022. In both years, household income growth outpaced consumer price inflation by roughly three percentage points. The 2023 picture shows a moderation in growth, with expenses through collections rising 1.5 percent, about two percentage points below inflation for 2023 (CaixaBank Research).
Water and telephone usage remained relatively steady from 2019 through 2023. In contrast, energy products, specifically electricity and natural gas, behaved like a roller coaster and finished the period below the starting point. The 2023 average electricity bill was about 6 percent lower than in 2019, after a 23 percent jump in 2022 tied to the energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine conflict. The 2023 figures reveal a 21 percent retreat from the previous year. Gas bills rose 17 percent in 2022, then fell 13 percent in 2023, leaving them roughly 10 percent lower than in 2019. The authors describe this as a cooling trend after volatility. The overall message is that energy costs fluctuated sharply but moved toward steadier levels by year-end (CaixaBank Research).
Looking ahead, 2024 is expected to bring some upward pressure on energy bills as various tax reliefs on electricity and natural gas unwind gradually. This backdrop will influence ongoing energy cost dynamics for households in the near term across North America and Europe alike.