After excise duty cut: this is how high the Netherlands ranks on world’s highest petrol price list
That petrol is expensive at the pump in the Netherlands is no surprise. From 1 January 2026, the excise duty rebate has been reduced in our country, which has caused petrol prices to rise again. This puts the Netherlands among the top countries worldwide with the highest petrol prices. Yet there are countries where a litre of petrol costs even more on average.
According to Global Petrol Prices, which monitors petrol prices of 180 countries around the world, the average price of a litre of petrol worldwide is currently 1.09 euros. In the Netherlands, it is currently 1.891 euros and thus almost 90 euro cents per litre higher. Note that this is the average price in the country; the actual price at the pump at a petrol station can be either higher or lower. At filling stations on a motorway , motorists can currently pay up to 60 euro cents more for a litre of Euro 95 than at an unmanned pump in a village away from the motorway. In the ten most expensive countries in the world, the price for a litre of petrol is significantly higher than the 1.09 euros mentioned.
These are the ten most expensive countries to fill up with Euro 95, as of 5-1-2026:
1. Hong Kong: €3.174 per litre
2. Denmark: 1.926 euros
3. Israel: 1.917 euros
4. Netherlands: 1.891 euros
5. Liechtenstein: 1.838 euros
6. Singapore: 1.828 euros
7. Switzerland: 1.825 euros
8. Albania: €1.791
9. Finland: 1.774
10. Ireland: 1.735
12: Germany: 1,723
27: Belgium: 1.483 euros
With the current average fuel price for a litre of Euro 95, the Netherlands finds itself at spot 4 in the company of countries known around the world as ‘expensive’, such as Hong Kong, Denmark and Switzerland. In European tax havens like Monaco and Liechtenstein, a fill-up is cheaper than in the Netherlands.
Neighbouring countries
In Belgium and Germany, average prices for a litre of Euro 95 at the pump have long been considerably lower than in the Netherlands. In Germany, according to Global Petrol Prices, an average of 1.723 euros is charged for a litre of petrol; about 17 eurocents per litre less than in the Netherlands. This puts Germany in 12th place worldwide. In Belgium, the price for a litre of petrol at the pump averages 1.48.3 euros; over 40 eurocents lower than in the Netherlands. This means that petrol stations in the Dutch border region are struggling as consumers are filling up en masse across the border. This puts Belgium in position 27 of the countries monitored by Global Petrol Prices worldwide.
The cheapest countries in the world for petrol are Iran, Libya and Venezuela, which charge an average of less than 3 euro cents for 1 litre.
Reduction in excise duty rebate
From 1 January 2026, the government in the Netherlands reduced the excise duty rebate that had applied until then. Excise duties were reduced in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused oil and energy prices to reach record highs. The end date of the excise duty rebate was postponed several times, but was actually pushed back further with the start of the new year. As a result, excise duty on a litre of petrol rose 5.6 eurocents to 84.5 eurocents as of 1 January. For diesel it was 3.6 euro cents and for LPG 1.3 euro cents. In all cases, it is an excise duty hike of about 7 per cent.
VAT is charged on top of excise duties in the Netherlands, so more than half of the litre price goes directly into the state treasury. The money released by the excise increase will go to public transport, according to the outgoing cabinet.
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