You pay 158p a litre. Where does it actually go?
Two thirds of a UK litre never reaches the forecourt operator. Fuel duty is a flat statutory levy. VAT is 20% of everything (yes — including the duty). What's left is the wholesale price plus the retailer's margin, and that's the part that actually moves week-to-week. Here's the breakdown for this week, and how the shares have shifted since 2018.
Pre-tax cost, duty, and VAT — petrol vs diesel
Fuel duty in the UK is a flat 52.95p per litre for both petrol and diesel — same number, regardless of pump price. VAT is 20% of the gross pump price (so it scales with the headline figure). Whatever's left after those two is the pre-tax cost: wholesale plus retailer margin.
Duty's share of the petrol pump price, 2018 → today
Fuel duty is a fixed pence amount, so when pump prices spike, duty's *share* of the total falls. The mid-2022 cost crisis pushed prices to records — and duty's share collapsed below 28%. The 5p duty cut in March 2022 helped pull that lower still. As prices have settled, duty's share has climbed back.
How much more diesel costs than petrol, week by week
UK diesel is usually a few pence more expensive than petrol — partly wholesale, partly retailer pricing. The 2022 energy crisis blew the gap out to over 25p as European diesel supply tightened. It then narrowed for most of 2023 and 2024, but has widened again in recent months on the back of tighter European distillate supply.
Source: DESNZ weekly road fuel prices — UK national averages, updated each Tuesday. Charts are computed live from the weekly history file.