Fuel sales hit rock bottom in April due to the corona crisis. Demand bounced back a month later, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Not surprisingly, it remained very quiet at the pump in April. Then the ‘intelligent lockdown’ was at its peak. In April, the lowest monthly point since the start of Statistics Netherlands data (from 2013) was recorded. Now the figures for May are also known. Bovag held them up to the light and noticed a significant revival. In May, 20.5 percent more fuel was consumed than in April. It concerns 986 million liters (petrol, diesel and LPG) in total.
May was still a mediocre month, despite the upturn in sales. Last year, 1.2 billion liters of fuel were purchased in the same month. In the first five months of 2020, the decrease will be 15 percent compared to the same period in 2019. Bovag will continue that percentage throughout the year and we would end up with the lowest decrease since 1989. However, the figures will probably be in June and July have been a bit more favorable again and it remains to be seen whether there will be such strong dips again in the rest of 2020 as in April.