The defeat (by 1-0) against Belgium dictated the departure of Portugal from the 2020 European Football Championship, but in the European Fuel Championship, Portugal's “form” continues to let us take the lead in the top places.
According to the most recent edition of the European Commission's Weekly Fuel Bulletin, Portugal has the 4th most expensive gasoline in the European Union (EU).
During the last week, the average price of gasoline 95 in Portugal was 1.63 euros/litre, a figure that was only surpassed by the Netherlands (1.80 €/litre), Denmark (1.65 €/litre) and Finland (1.64 €/litre).
If we turn the needle to diesel, the story has similar contours, with Portugal asserting itself as the sixth country in the European Union with the most expensive diesel, after having “closed” last week with an average price of 1.43 euros/litre.
Even worse is Sweden (1.62 €/litre), Belgium (1.50 €/litre), Finland (1.47 €/litre), Italy (1.47 €/litre) and the Netherlands (1.45 €/litre).
The numbers don't lie and compared to the countries that appear in front of us, Portugal is clearly the country with the weakest economy.
And as if that wasn't worrying enough, this week we should climb a few more places in these rankings, since fuels will register a rise for the fifth consecutive week.
According to the calculations of Negócios, the week that has just started will see fuel prices in Portugal rise to the highs of 2013. In the case of simple gasoline 95, the rise will be 2 cents per liter, with each liter of this asset increasing to cost 1,651 euros. Diesel will increase by 1 cent per liter to a total of 1.44 euros.
Based on this increase, in the next Weekly Fuel Bulletin of the European Commission, Portugal should see its position reinforced among the countries with the most expensive fuels in the European Union.
Making a quick comparison exercise with last week's numbers, after this week's increase, Portugal kept the (6th) position in the diesel price ranking but climbed to second place in the list of average gasoline price, only behind the Netherlands.
Tax burden among the highest in the EU
Brent, which serves as a reference for Portugal, is above 75 dollars per barrel, which represents a maximum since 2018. But this is not the only reason that explains the high price of fuel in our country. The tax burden on fuel is among the highest in the European Union and has a strong impact on the price we all pay when we fill up our cars.Discover your next car
If we take into account the average price of gasoline 95 in the last week (€1.63/litre) and according to the most recent edition of the European Commission's Weekly Fuel Bulletin, the Portuguese State keeps 60% of the value in taxes and fees. Only the Netherlands, Finland, Greece and Italy tax fuel more than Portugal.
Let's go to examples…
To give some “body” to these numbers, let's look at the following example: last week, whoever filled the car with 45 liters of 95-octane plain gasoline paid an average of 73.35 euros. Of this amount, 43.65 euros were collected by the State through taxes and fees.
Those who supplied fuel in Spain, for example, at a price of €1.37/litre, paid €61.65, of which only €31.95 represented state taxes and fees.
Where are we going?
The next meeting – this Thursday – of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may dictate the direction of fuel prices in the coming weeks, but experts say that prices still have room to grow, before falling further.
In Portugal, in 2021 alone, topping up a car with a gasoline engine was already 17% more expensive, which represents 23 cents more per liter. In the case of simple diesel, the increase since January this year is already 14%.
These are alarming numbers that in recent weeks have gone unnoticed among the goals that Cristiano Ronaldo and company have scored in Euro 2020. But now that Portugal's national team has come home, Portugal's goals, performances and victories in the European Championship fuels, may not be received with the same enthusiasm.