IRELAND IS NOW among the most expensive countries in the European Union to fill up a car with petrol or diesel once taxes and levies are applied — despite the underlying cost of fuel being broadly average by European standards.

New analysis of European Commission data by DoneDeal Cars shows that Ireland ranked 5th most expensive in the EU for petrol and 3rd most expensive for diesel when pump prices including all taxes were compared across Member States in early 2026.

However, when the same prices are examined before tax, Ireland drops sharply down the rankings — to 13th for petrol and 8th for diesel — placing it close to the middle of the EU range. The figures underline that it is taxation, rather than the base cost of fuel, that is driving Ireland’s high prices at the pump.

The analysis is based on data from the European Commission’s Weekly Oil Bulletin for the week of 5 January 2026, which provides harmonised fuel price comparisons across all 27 EU Member States.

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Ireland’s sharp shift in price ranking before and after tax reflects the cumulative impact of multiple charges........

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