Irish pump prices, 2020The pandemic low and a temporary VAT cut.

A motorist buying petrol every Monday of 2020 would have paid €1.291 a litre on average, and a diesel driver €1.199. Measured end to end, 2020 left petrol 17.0 cent lower. Relative to 2019, a litre of petrol cost −11.2 cent on average and a litre of diesel −12.2 cent.

The range for petrol was 24.5 cent: from €1.213 on 1 Jun up to €1.457 on 20 Jan. The annual averages put diesel 9.2 cent a litre cheaper than petrol. On the weekly duty and VAT rates of the time, the State's share of a petrol litre averaged 66.9% in 2020, or roughly 86.4 cent. Tractor and boiler fuel, marked gas oil, cost €0.552 on average; its cheapest week was €0.468 and its dearest €0.747.

Between the cheapest month, May at €1.222, and the dearest, January at €1.454, petrol's monthly averages spread by 23.2 cent.

Counting the Monday-to-Monday changes, petrol climbed 21 times against 26 declines, with 3 flat weeks.

Irish petrol finished the year 1.4 cent higher relative to the EU average of €1.277.

The tax side moved once that year, according to Revenue: from 14 Oct, €619.36 on petrol and €515.38 on diesel per 1,000 litres.

VAT on fuel was cut from 23% to 21% on 1 September 2020 as part of the pandemic stimulus, and on 14 October carbon tax rose to €33.50 a tonne.

CSO collectors found petrol at €1.472 in January; by December the monthly average was €1.283.

Either side of this page stand fuel prices in 2019 and the 2021 record.

Other years, with their averages, are listed on the weekly archive since 2005.