UK motorists pay highest percentage of fuel duty and tax in Europe

Many of us have long suspected it, but official figures today confirm that UK drivers pay the highest levels of duty and tax on fuel in Europe.

European Commission figures obtained by Conservative MP Philip Davies show that 60% of the pump price for unleaded petrol is duty and tax. Meanwhile, 58% of the price of diesel goes to Treasury coffers.

Here’s how the figures compare to some of our European counterparts, firstly for unleaded petrol:

And here’s how we compare when it comes to diesel:

How the pump prices compare

In terms of actual pump prices, we pay less than our counterparts in Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Finland for unleaded petrol.

But when it comes to diesel, we pay the most in duty/and tax and at the pump - over 2p more litre than our nearest peer, Italy. By contrast, motorists pay an average of 117.8p per litre in France and 112.6p in Spain.

Campaign group FairFuelUK has called a National FairFuelDay on 7th March where it plans to ‘mass lobby’ MPs at Westminster at 1pm.

And campaigners are meeting Treasury officials today (28th February) to lobby for a fuel duty cut in next month’s Budget. Chancellor George Osborne has reportedly ruled out a further reduction, following the scrapping of a planned rise for January last year. As it stands, another increase in fuel duty, of 3p per litre, is on the horizon for August.

Welsh transport campaigners Sustrans Cymru say that some motorists in Wales are being forced into debt by the cost of running a car to get to work or to shops and schools. It’s calling for greater investment in public transport and shared alternatives such as car clubs.

More: How to find the cheapest diesel and petrol prices | Could an electric car save you money?