The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) puts a price on emissions from power plants, factories, aviation and shipping in Europe. That price is the price of an EU allowance, or EUA. This page gives the latest figures from two official, openly published sources: the auction results from the European Energy Exchange (EEX), and the average price the European Commission publishes each month. It is part of our prices section.
The latest EU ETS price
On 1 October 2026, the EEX common-platform auction cleared at €84.70 per allowanceSource 1. One allowance gives the right to emit one tonne of CO₂ equivalentSource 4. These are the most recent common-platform auctions in EEX’s 2026 results:
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| Auction date | Clearing price (EUR/t) | Allowances auctioned |
|---|---|---|
| 1 October 2026 | 84.70 | 2,791,500 |
| 29 September 2026 | 84.87 | 2,792,000 |
| 28 September 2026 | 85.90 | 2,791,500 |
| 24 September 2026 | 86.05 | 2,791,500 |
| 22 September 2026 | 85.53 | 2,791,500 |
As of Oct 2026 · Source: [1] EEX, Emission Spot Primary Market Auction Report 2026
The European Commission also publishes a rolling average. For October 2026, it gives the average allowance price for the preceding six calendar months, April to September 2026, as €78.93Source 3. The Commission uses this figure to monitor excessive price rises under Article 29a of the ETS Directive, and updates it every monthSource 3.
How the price moved in 2026
Auction prices have moved within a wide band this year. Across the common-platform auctions in EEX’s 2026 results, the lowest clearing price was €62.19 on 19 March and the highest was €91.32 on 15 JanuarySource 1. The first common-platform auction of the year, on 8 January, cleared at €85.47Source 1.
We take these figures from EEX’s published auction data, not from exchange price feeds. Allowances also trade every day on the secondary market, but that price data is licensed, so we don’t republish it. Auction results are official, dated and free for anyone to check.
If you are thinking about holding allowances yourself, our guide to EU ETS allowances as an investment covers who can hold them and the risks.
How the EU ETS price is set
The EU ETS is a cap-and-trade system, launched in 2005Source 4. The cap limits the total greenhouse gases that covered companies can emit, and it is expressed in allowances. Allowances are sold in auctions and may be traded, and some companies receive allowances for freeSource 4.
- Auctions. Twenty-five EU countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, auction their allowances on EEX, the common auction platform. Auctions are held weekly on Mondays, Tuesdays and ThursdaysSource 3.
- Share auctioned. Over 2021 to 2030, up to 57% of general allowances will be auctioned and the rest allocated for freeSource 3.
- Publication. Auction results are published daily on the platform’s website, and detailed reports quarterlySource 3.
EEX’s data file records each auction’s clearing price, volume and number of biddersSource 1.
What drives the EU carbon price?
The price balances the supply of allowances against companies’ demand for them. Three rules shape the supply side:
- A falling cap. The cap is reduced every year. After the 2023 reform it is set to bring emissions from covered sectors down by 62% by 2030, compared with 2005Source 4.
- The Market Stability Reserve. Since 2019 the reserve has adjusted the number of allowances auctioned each year, based on how many are in circulation. When the total number of allowances in circulation exceeds 1,096 million, it withdraws allowances from auctions at a rate of 24% of that number over 12 months. When it falls below 400 million, the reserve releases 100 million allowances for auctionSource 5.
- Penalties. A company that doesn’t surrender enough allowances pays a fine. The EU raised the penalty to €100 per tonne in the second phase of the systemSource 4.
On the demand side, what matters is how much covered companies emit. The Commission says the EU ETS has helped bring emissions from European power and industry plants down by about 47% from 2005 levels by 2023Source 4.
EU ETS price vs voluntary carbon credit prices
The EU ETS price is not the price of a carbon credit you can buy to offset. The two are different products in different markets:
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| Aspect | EU allowance (EUA) | Voluntary carbon credit |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A permit to emit 1 tonne of CO₂e | A tonne reduced or removed by a project |
| Who needs it | Companies covered by the EU ETS, by law | Companies and individuals, by choice |
| Issued by | EU countries, under the EU cap | Independent standards |
| Prices on this site | Euros (EEX, European Commission) | US dollars (Ecosystem Marketplace) |
As of Oct 2026
For comparison, the average voluntary carbon credit retired in 2026 cost $6.12–$6.92 per tonne (the 2026 average so far, and Q3 2026)Source 6. Don’t read that gap as one market being cheap and the other dear: the products, buyers and rules differ. Our guide to voluntary vs compliance markets explains the difference, and the carbon credit price page has voluntary prices by type.
Check the source and the date
A carbon price without a date and a source is hard to use. When you see an EU carbon price quoted, check whether it is an auction result, a secondary-market price or an average, and which day it refers to.
How often we update this page
We review this page every month, when the Commission publishes its next six-month average and EEX adds new auction resultsSource 3. For background on why prices in different carbon markets diverge, see why carbon credit prices differ.