British Diesel Vehicle Owners Face Highest Fuel Prices in Europe
RAC states that there is ‘no good reason’ for UK retailers not reducing their pump prices.
The current average diesel price at fuel pumps is 155p, making it 5p more expensive than the next most pricey countries, Ireland and Belgium, which are charging 150p per litre, even though they have 1-2 percent higher tax rates on fuel.
“We can see no good reason why retailers in Great Britain aren’t cutting their prices at the pumps,” said RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams on Wednesday.
Mr. Williams explained that calculations show “the average retailer margin on diesel—that’s the difference between the delivered wholesale price and the retail price before VAT—is 18p. That’s a shocking 10p more than the long-term average of 8p.”
Recent European data on fuel prices shows that France has a duty rate just one penny lower than the UK (52p), but its average diesel price is 9p less at 146p.
RAC brought the issue of high diesel prices to the attention of Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho in a letter just over a week ago. However, it seems little has been done as diesel prices at forecourts have barely moved “even though the wholesale prices of petrol and diesel are identical at just 111p a litre.”
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“Being the most expensive diesel in Europe despite the 5p duty cut is a very dubious honor,” said the automotive spokesman.
RAC states that the average diesel price “should really be down to around the 145p level if retailers were charging fairer prices,” and claims that the margin on petrol is also “unreasonably high at 13p.”
“It’s important to note that in Northern Ireland, where there is more competition for fuel due to the absence of supermarket dominance, the average diesel price is just 144.9p—10p less than the UK average, and petrol is 6p cheaper at 142.4p,” Mr. Williams mentioned.
“There is hope for fairer fuel prices in the future,” he added.
“The Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act became law on Friday, giving new powers to the Competition and Markets Authority to closely monitor road fuel prices and report any sign of malpractice to the government.”
Although duty on both petrol and diesel was cut by 5p in spring 2022 to address the rapidly rising fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK still has the highest diesel duty rate in Europe alongside Italy. However, the average diesel price in Italy is 148p per litre—7p cheaper than in the UK.
Prices at that time soared due to increases in wholesale fuel costs, driven by a resurgence in demand following the reopening of global economies.
Epoch Times reached out to Claire Coutinho, secretary of state for energy security and net zero, for comment.
