Fuel price hike: Italia is among the seven most expensive countries in Europe for petrol and diesel
Diesel: price rises in Italia have been below the EU average since the start of the war. But prices remain amongst the highest
Key points
On 23 February, a litre of diesel in Italia cost 1.702 euros. Six months later, according to the latest figures from the European Commission’s bulletin (which, however, is published weekly and is based on Monday’s prices), it had risen to €2.079: an increase of 22.2 per cent.
Italia ranks 22nd in the EU for price rises
A significant price rise, but lower than the EU average, where diesel rose from 1.594 to 2.033 euros per litre – a 27.5 per cent increase, more than five percentage points higher than the Italia figure. Among the 27 EU countries, Italia’s price rise ranks 23rd out of 27 in terms of magnitude, far behind the record increases seen in Bulgaria (+44 per cent), the Czech Republic (+35.3 per cent) and Estonia (+35.2 per cent), the markets most exposed to the shock triggered by tensions in the Middle East.
But among the cheapest
This modest increase, however, is not enough to move Italia away from the top of the European price rankings. As at 17 August, Italian diesel ranked seventh out of 27 in absolute terms, behind the Netherlands (2.383), Finland (2.318), Germany (2.266), Denmark (2.250), France (2.199) and Belgium (2.174).
Petrol price rises exceed the EU average
The trend for petrol is the opposite. Between 23 February (€1.655) and 17 August (€1.988), the price in Italia rose by 20.2 per cent, a rate slightly higher than the EU average, which stood at 17.5 per cent (from €1.637 to €1.924).
Here too, Italia remains among the most expensive countries: seventh out of 27, surpassed only by Denmark (2.445), the Netherlands (2.329), Germany (2.239), Finland (2.140), France (2.038) and Greece (2.002).
