EU Fuel Prices Jump 20.7% in May as Diesel Falls 5.8% and Petrol Edges Up 0.8%
Updated
Updated · European Commission · Jun 22
EU Fuel Prices Jump 20.7% in May as Diesel Falls 5.8% and Petrol Edges Up 0.8%
3 articles · Updated · European Commission · Jun 22
Summary
May 2026 fuel and lubricant prices for personal transport in the EU were 20.7% higher than a year earlier, extending a sharp rebound after prices had generally been falling through February.
Diesel drove much of the annual surge, up 29.0% from May 2025, while petrol rose 16.2%; month on month, though, diesel dropped 5.8% and petrol added just 0.8% from April.
Bulgaria posted the biggest annual increase at 33.9%, followed by Luxembourg at 32.2%, Lithuania at 30.8% and Romania at 30.4%, while Hungary saw the smallest rise at 3.5%.
Between April and May, diesel prices fell in every EU country except Romania, where they rose 1.6%, while petrol increased in 23 countries, led by Italy at 6.9%.
The data, drawn from the EU's HICP inflation measure, point to fuel costs remaining a broad inflation pressure even as diesel's monthly spike eased.