Fuel has not become that much more expensive

With an Average National Retail Price of – at the time of writing – €2.12 for a liter of Euro 95 petrol, you have lost an unprecedented amount of money for a full tank of petrol. Diesel is also more expensive than ever at €1.76 per liter and at €1.14 per liter of LPG, gas drivers dream of the times when they refueled for ‘a few dimes per litre’. It even moves some people to fill their car with full jerry cans in Germany or Belgium. We have never received the ‘temporary quarter from Kok’ back and that is one of the reasons why we spend relatively very expensive in the Netherlands when we are at the pump.

There is no denying that prices are high, only the situation may not be as extreme as it seems. The psychological limit of €2 per liter plays a major role in the perception that we are spending a lot of money. We also had relatively low fuel prices in 2020, which are still quite fresh in our minds. To get a better idea of ​​how expensive we really are, we look at the figures for the past twenty years, which we owe to United Consumers, and then offset it against inflation.

Fuel Prices (GLA) over the years. Source: United Consumers

2001 to 2008

If we go back twenty years, we see a GLA price for Euro 95 petrol of about €1.05 per litre. It must also be said that the price you lost at the end of 2001 is still considered the lowest in the past twenty years. In comparison with inflation this is roughly €1.51 per litre. Not really that alarmingly low. Stronger even; in 2020 the price of a liter of petrol was just above that at a certain point. At the most expensive point in 2001, you lost more than €1.25 per liter of Euro 95, the current equivalent of €1.79. Certainly a lot cheaper than now, but perhaps not as big of a difference as you expected.

In the years that followed, fuel prices rose steadily. A provisional peak was reached in 2008. Then halfway through the year you lost more than €1.70 (GLA) for a liter of Euro 95, compared to inflation that is €2.10. Look at that: that’s almost the GLA price we have now. The GLA price for diesel at that time was roughly €1.50, or €1.85 in ‘2021 money’. That price was essentially even higher than the current diesel price. That same year, we entered the economic crisis and fuel prices plummeted.

Long standing records

In 2012, after a few relatively cheap years at the pump, new records were set with fuel prices. In fact, we were so expensive back then that those records were only removed from the books this year. Almost €1.90 for a liter of Euro 95 and just under €1.56 for a liter of diesel was the peak in the GLA price in 2012. Set against inflation, we are talking about €2.18 and €1.79 respectively. per liter. Converted to contemporary prices, both record prices were actually higher than what we are currently losing at the pump.

Of course, converting to prices based on inflation is not a panacea for how hard it really hits people in their wallets. It is clear, however, that current fuel prices are higher than ever, especially in an absolute sense. Nevertheless, it is hoped for the people with a fuel car that the peak has been reached.