United Kingdom Ranks Last of 33 Major Economies on Industrial Energy Costs
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — August 25, 2026 — The United Kingdom recorded the highest industrial energy price of the 33 major economies tracked in Intratec's Industry Economics & Competitiveness 2025 Annual Review, published today, ranking last of 33 on the report's Energy & Utilities Costs pillar. UK industrial energy averaged $42.0 per MMBtu in 2025 — nearly three and a half times Saudi Arabia's $12.1, the lowest price in the report.
The review compares 33 major economies on the same basis across 14 pillars — among them energy and utilities costs, manufacturing labor costs, taxation and market access — with findings drawn across 7 industries.
The result is not one of broad weakness. The UK ranks 11th of 33 on domestic tax friendliness and 15th of 33 on both logistics and infrastructure and tariff protection and market access — solidly within the field's stronger half on each. What holds the country back is concentrated almost entirely in one input: energy has kept the UK among the three most expensive of the 33 tracked economies in every year since 2015, and prices never returned to their level before the 2022 spike.
"At $42 per MMBtu, Britain pays the most for industrial energy of the 33 countries we track — nearly three and a half times what Saudi Arabia pays. It has not left the bottom three on energy in a decade, and prices never came back down after the 2022 spike."
— Alexandre Carvalho, Analyst, Industry Economics & Competitiveness
The UK's overall Country Score ranked 32nd of 33 economies, second-to-last, falling 1.3% year-on-year. China closed 2025 on top for an eleventh straight year, and each of the next four economies held its exact 2024 position.
The Industry Economics & Competitiveness 2025 Annual Review is free to read, and its methodology is open.
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