Bulgaria had highest annual increase in fuel prices in EU in May 2026 – Eurostat
Bulgaria had the highest increase on an annual basis in fuel prices in the European Union in May 2026, at 33.9 per cent, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on June 22.
Eurostat said that in May 2026, the price of fuels and lubricants for personal transport in the EU increased by 20.7 per cent compared with May 2025, following a 12.9 per cent rise in March 2026 and 20.8 per cent in April, compared with the same months in 2025.
Up to February 2026, these prices were generally decreasing for both the EU average and most EU countries.
Compared with May 2025, fuels and lubricants prices rose in all EU countries in May 2026, and four of them saw increases above 30 per cent: Bulgaria (+33.9 per cent), Luxembourg (+32.2 per cent), Lithuania (+30.8 per cent) and Romania (+30.4 per cent).
The lowest increase was recorded in Hungary (+3.5 per cent), and the rises in the remaining countries ranged from +12.7 per cent in Poland to +29.2 per cent in France.
Looking at diesel and petrol prices in the EU, in May 2026 they increased by 29.0 per cent for diesel and 16.2 per cent for petrol compared with May 2025. In April 2026, diesel prices rose by 33.7 per cent and petrol by 13.6 per cent.
However, on a monthly basis, EU consumers saw diesel prices decrease by 5.8 per cent, while petrol prices increased again, even if by only 0.8 per cent compared with April 2026. In April 2026, diesel rose by 7.9 per cent and petrol by 2.4 per cent relative to March 2026.
Between April and May 2026, diesel prices increased only in Romania (+1.6 per cent) and decreased in the remaining EU countries. The highest decreases were in Germany (-11.9 per cent), Greece (-8.5 per cent), Estonia (-8.4 per cent) and Ireland (-8.1 per cent), while the lowest were in Bulgaria (-0.7 per cent), Hungary (-0.9 per cent) and Cyprus (-1.5 per cent).
When it comes to petrol prices, 23 EU countries registered increases between April and May 2026, ranging from +6.9 per cent in Italy to +0.1 per cent in Croatia and Hungary. On the other hand, Germany (-5.6 per cent), Ireland (-2.0 per cent) and Sweden (-0.7 per cent) recorded decreases in May compared with the previous month, Eurostat said.
(Photo: Hippopx)
