European fuel prices: diesel & petrol by country

Fuel is usually the biggest variable on a long European trip, and the gap between the cheapest and dearest country can be more than a euro a litre — enough to pay for a stack of nights at aires. Here's the current national-average pump price for petrol and diesel in 45 European countries, updated weekly, with the patterns that don't change between updates: which countries are reliably cheap, which are reliably brutal, and where it's worth tanking up before a border.

Tap any column header to sort. Prices are national averages converted to euros per litre at the source-day exchange rate; individual stations vary by 10–25 cents either way depending on location, brand and time of day. Belarus, Russia and a few non-EU countries have regulated or subsidised pricing.

The pattern that stays the same

Absolute prices move week to week, but the relative ranking barely shifts year to year, which is what makes this useful for trip planning. Three broad tiers:

• Cheap. Belarus, Russia and Turkey sit at the bottom on subsidised or oil-producer pricing. Inside the EU, Malta, Poland, Spain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania are reliably the cheapest, with Andorra a notable cheap-fuel pocket between France and Spain.
• Middle. Most of central and southern Europe — Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Portugal, Greece, the Baltics. Pump prices roughly in line with the EU average.
• Expensive. Switzerland and Liechtenstein top the list, followed by the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway), the Netherlands, then France, Italy, Belgium and the UK. Routes that pass through several of these can rack up real money.

Border-tank tips

The gap across many European borders is big enough that filling up on the cheap side first pays for the inconvenience of a short detour. The ones worth knowing for a typical van trip:

• Luxembourg before Belgium, Germany and France. Luxembourg's pump is one of the cheapest in Western Europe (about €1.70 / €1.73), 15–35 cents under all three neighbours. It's the classic transit-route top-up.
• Andorra before France. Andorra is famously cheap (about €1.59 / €1.63) and sits on the Pyrenees crossings — fill before re-entering France, mind the customs limits and the Sunday early-close. See our Pyrenees route guide.
• Spain before France. Spain's about €1.55 / €1.65; France is €2.06 / €2.04. A 60-litre fill saves around €25–30 if you tank up just inside the Spanish border.
• Czech Republic before Germany. Less famous but the biggest diesel saving in central Europe — Czech diesel (€1.58) is roughly 30 cents under Germany's (€1.86). Worth a small detour on any north–south transit.
• Slovenia before Italy. Smaller gap but consistent — Slovenian diesel runs ~25 cents under Italy.
• Tank up before Switzerland and Norway. Both about as expensive as it gets in Europe. Top up in France/Germany/Austria before Switzerland; in Sweden or Denmark before crossing into Norway.

Motorway, off-motorway and supermarket prices

The country average masks a real second dimension: where you fill up inside the country. Motorway service-area pumps routinely run 10–25 cents per litre dearer than equivalent supermarket and town stations — sometimes more in France, Italy and Spain. The savings hours-rule of thumb:

• France: Carrefour, Leclerc, Intermarché and Système U supermarkets are typically the cheapest in any given area, often 15–20 cents below the autoroute. Plan a short detour off a péage exit at lunchtime.
• Germany: the Tankerkönig app (which the government feeds in real time) is the standard tool — Aral and Shell on the Autobahn are dearest; smaller-town independents and supermarkets are usually 10–15 cents lower.
• Italy: autostrada Eni and Q8 stations are noticeably higher than off-motorway. Self-serve ("fai-da-te") is cheaper than attended ("servito") at most stations.
• Spain & Portugal: Repsol/Cepsa stations are mid-priced; the cheapest are usually Carrefour, Mercadona and the "low-cost" brands like BP Express and Galp affiliates.

Diesel vs petrol vs LPG

The diesel/petrol gap varies enormously by country. In Czech Republic, Slovakia and Spain diesel is comfortably cheaper than petrol; in Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, Belgium and Italy diesel is the dearer of the two — sometimes by 20+ cents. If you're choosing a van, the local fuel-cost picture in your typical countries is worth checking.

LPG (autogas) is significantly cheaper still where it's available — typically €0.70–€1.05 per litre — but only practical in countries with a real refill network: Italy, Poland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands are well-supplied; Scandinavia, the UK and Ireland are sparse. Our gas & LPG guide covers the bottle and refill detail.

The card-hold trap at unattended stations

How to read these averages

The numbers above are national averages reported on the listed date and converted to euros per litre. They smooth out brand, location and time-of-day variation — a station 50 metres apart from another can differ by 10 cents, and motorway pumps can be 20+ cents higher than the average. Treat the table as a tool for relative comparison and trip-planning order of magnitude, not as a quote for any specific station.

For real-time, station-level pricing on your route, two excellent free official tools are worth a bookmark: prix-carburants.gouv.fr (France — every station, updated daily) and Tankerkönig (Germany — same idea, with a popular mobile app). Most other countries have at least one consumer comparison app of similar quality.

The bottom line

European fuel prices change weekly but the geography doesn't: there's a cheap belt across the centre and east, a brutal patch through the Alps and the Nordics, and a few well-known cheap pockets (Luxembourg, Andorra, the Czech Republic) that reward a small detour. Know which tier your route countries sit in, top up before a known-expensive border, choose supermarket over motorway pumps where you can, and you'll keep one of the biggest single line-items in van travel firmly in hand.

Pump prices change daily and the figures above are a weekly national-average snapshot — individual stations vary, exchange rates move, and tax policy can change overnight. Treat the table as planning guidance, not a binding quote, and confirm at the pump before relying on a specific figure.

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