ARERA, which sets regulated gas prices for Italian consumers, also said the price for December was up 23.3% from the previous month, reflecting high prices in early December before a later decline in -month.
An average family spent around 1,866 euros ($1,968.63) on gas last year, it is estimated.
Marco Vignola, who speaks on energy issues for the National Consumers Union, said the prices “were unsustainable for too many Italians” and urged the government to do more to help.
The Italian budget for the coming year has allocated more than 21 billion euros to help firms and households pay their electricity and gas bills, mainly through subsidies for energy-intensive firms and households with low income.
ARERA late last year began setting regulated gas prices on a monthly rather than quarterly basis due to market uncertainty related to gas supplies after the war in Ukraine.
European Union countries in December agreed to cap gas prices to try to limit further rises in the market, which have hit record levels in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to disruption. of supplies.
($1 = 0.9479 euro)
(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Keith Weir; editing by Barbara Lewis)
