Across 33 economies, industrial energy costs more than three times as much in the UK as in Saudi Arabia
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — October 14, 2026 — Energy costs about $12.1 per MMBtu in Saudi Arabia against $42.0 in the United Kingdom, the cheapest and the dearest industrial energy among 33 economies. British plants pay more than three times as much as Saudi ones, according to the Industry Economics & Competitiveness 2025 Annual Review, published today by Intratec Solutions.
The review scores 33 economies, together more than 80% of global manufacturing output, as places to make the industrial commodities behind everyday products, from plastics to fertilizers and industrial metals. Every country is measured on the same basis, across 14 pillars including labor costs, industrial energy prices and taxes, and the energy figures are full-year 2025 averages. The average energy price across the 33 is $24.0 per MMBtu.
The United States sits between the two ends. Its industrial energy got 1% cheaper, at $22.3 per MMBtu, but manufacturing labor rose 4% to $50.8 an hour, and the country slid to 9th of 33 from 8th, its weakest finish in the report's eleven years.
The energy bill shows in the overall ranking. Saudi Arabia ranks 4th of 33, and cheap energy, more than anything else, is why. The United Kingdom ranks 32nd, two places lower than a year earlier, and energy is what pulls it down. Cheap energy alone does not top the table: China, first for the eleventh straight year, pays $18.5 per MMBtu, the fifth-cheapest of the 33.
“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
Energy is one of several wide cost lines. All-in manufacturing labor runs from $1.6 an hour in Indonesia to $57.1 in Belgium, a 36-fold spread, and the employer's payroll bill from 1% of wages in South Africa to 45% in France. The dear ends are not a bloc but scatter across Europe: Belgium on wages, the United Kingdom on energy, Sweden on plant builds, France on payroll.
The Industry Economics & Competitiveness 2025 Annual Review ranks all 33 economies on a 0–100 Country Score. The ranking is free to read and the methodology is open, with no login and no subscription.
The report: https://www.intratec.us/solutions/industry-economics-competitiveness/annual?src=prnow
Methodology: https://methodology.intratec.us?src=prnow
About Intratec Solutions
Intratec Solutions — Independent Commodity, Energy & Industrial Intelligence. In operation since 2002, Intratec turns complex commodity and industrial data into clear, comparable intelligence. Its AI-enabled products cover prices, market dynamics, production economics, and the broader conditions that shape competitiveness. More at intratec.us.