Spain was the country in the European Union where the price of motor fuel rose the most in 2021, registering an increase of 22% compared to the month of January and exceeding the average price in the euro zone (140 cents), according to a study by the National Association of Automatic Service Stations (Aesae).
Specifically, the difference between the prices at the beginning of last year compared to the numbers for December 2021 is 26 cents per litre, according to data based on the Geoportal of the Ministry for Ecological Transition.
This increase has caused Spain to close last year as the fourth country with the most expensive fuel in the European Union, only behind the Netherlands (166 cents), Finland (151.6 cents) and Denmark (148.3 cents). Meanwhile, Italy and Portugal have experienced a decrease in price, registering a decrease of 1% and 4%, respectively, compared to the month of January.
The increase in the price of fuel has been a trend throughout the European Union during 2021. However, Spain distanced itself from this line in the last month of the year, when countries such as Italy, Portugal, Greece, France or Germany registered drops of up to 34 cents per litre, while Spain experienced a drop of only 3 cents, going from 151 cents to 147.
In 2021, Spain marked the minimum in January with a price of 121 cents per litre, while the peak was recorded in November, when the price of petrol exceeded 151 cents, a figure not reached since 2012.
This increase is due, among other factors, to the increase in the price of a barrel of Brent crude throughout the year; to the cut of production of the producing countries; to tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe; and to the uncertainty created by Covid-19, points out Aesae, which underlines that another factor that also influences the final price is the internal competition of each country and the taxes that these products have.
As far as diesel is concerned, it has experienced a similar trend to petrol. Thus, in December 2021 it increased by 22% compared to January of that year.
