The average Dutch household is paying €334 more a year for gas and electricity following tax increases introduced on January 1, the national statistics office CBS said at the weekend.

That takes the average household bill to €2,074 – a rise of around 18% or €28 a month, the CBS calculations show. Just under half of energy bills are now made up of taxes – part of deliberate government strategy to encourage people to reduce gas usage.

Earlier, energy price comparison websites said they expected the average increase to be in the region of €300.