Where is the most Expensive Diesel in Europe?
Published Date: 29th Jul 2016
According to a new study carried out by the RAC Foundation, the average price of diesel in the UK is £1.13 per litre. This puts us right at the top of the leader board for most expensive diesel price in Europe.
The UK currently stands 3p ahead of Italy with £1.10 in second place, then comes Sweden at £1.09 and tied fourth is Denmark and Portugal a full 10 pence cheaper than the UK at £1.03.
The cheapest country in the whole of Europe to fill up is Lithuania (£0.74) then Poland (£0.77) and third from bottom is Luxembourg (£0.78)
Here is the full table below
- UK - £1.13 per litre
- Italy - £1.10
- Sweden - £1.09
- Denmark - £1.03
- Portugal - £1.03
- The Netherlands - £1.01
- Belgium - £1.00
- Finland - £0.99
- Ireland - £0.98
- Malta - £0.97
- Cyprus - £0.96
- France - £0.94
- Romania - £0.94
- Slovenia - £0.94
- Croatia - £0.93
- Germany - £0.92
- Estonia - £0.88
- Greece - £0.88
- Hungary - £0.87
- Spain - £0.87
- Austria - £0.85
- Slovakia - £0.85
- Bulgaria - £0.82
- Czech Republic - £0.82
- Latvia - £0.81
- Luxembourg - £0.78
- Poland - £0.77
- Lithuania - £0.74
Why is fuel so expensive in the UK?
The cost is mainly down to the fact that the UK is the only country in Europe to have the same duty or tax paid on diesel as petrol currently 57.9p per litre. The picture is very different when it comes to petrol prices, where we control 8th spot on the list for most expensive petrol in Europe. The Netherlands is top with £1.29 per litre and Poland is the Cheapest with £0.81 per litre.
Warnings from various organisations that the cost of fuel will rise after the Brexit referendum by as much as 5%. In reality however the price of fuel has remained rather stable, this is mainly down to the offset created by the fall in oil prices and the strength of the US Dollar versus the Pound.
Director of the RAC Foundation Steve Gooding said “What might surprise drivers is that even allowing for the slump in the value of sterling they might still be better off buying diesel on the continent”.
“The key message is that pump prices are determined by a whole host of factors. The exchange rate is one of them. The price of oil is another. But taxation is perhaps the most important of all. Before tax, the UK actually has only the 22nd most expensive petrol in the 28 member states of the EU. With tax, we jump to 8th in the league table. For diesel the UK is 23rd before tax, but we soar to the top of the list once tax is added.”