Further fuel price rise for drivers

16/11/11

By Chris Gibbings

Motorists paying 134p per litre for fuel face yet another rise of around 3p per litre in January.

These costs mark the latest stage in generally rising prices for fuel and the traumas that sometimes accompany them. In 2000 a huge protest saw blockades of fuel dumps and long queues at forecourts, and the price of a litre of petrol at the time was around 80p.

There was some relief by January 2002 when the price was down to 71.0p, but despite some falls along the way, the price per litre had risen to 111.8p by January 2010, and 128.3p by January this year.

And the grim story doesn't stop there: average petrol prices topped 136p per litre in 2011, with diesel reaching 141p. Other factors contribute to the burden, as drivers paying 134p actually fork out around just 54p for the fuel part of the purchase; around 58p of their payment is fuel tax and 22p VAT.

A further VAT rise looms in January to add around 3p a litre to petrol.

The poorest households seem to be hit the hardest, as the 20 per cent worst off paid 3.5 per cent of disposable income on fuel duty in 2009/10. The comparable figure for the top 20 per cent of households was 1.8 per cent.