The UK’s domestic gas and electricity prices were “amongst the lowest” in the EU in 2015, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has said.

However, this was only the case when adjusting the prices to take account of the purchasing power of the pound relative to other European currencies.

Britain’s domestic gas prices were twelfth cheapest out of 28 when compared using the market exchange rate, putting them 5.3 per cent above the median for the region. Compared on the basis of the ‘Purchasing Power Standard’ per kWh, only Luxembourg had cheaper gas. Using this metric UK prices were 29 per cent below the median.

Domestic electricity prices in the UK were 26 per cent above the median and the eighth most expensive when sized up using the exchange rate. They were sixth cheapest when adjusted for purchasing power and 19 per cent below the median.

Industrial gas prices were twelfth cheapest in the union when judged according to the exchange rate but were third cheapest when adjusted for purchasing power. The picture was less rosy for industrial electricity. Even on the basis of purchasing power Britain ranked eleventh and dropped to second from the bottom when using the exchange rate.