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Live Fuel Prices

The latest available UK fuel-price data, updated automatically.

Pump prices, Fuel Duty, VAT, crude oil, exchange rates and other indicators are shown with their relevant date and source.

The petrol and diesel figures are UK weekly average pump prices published by GOV.UK / DESNZ. They are not live prices at individual stations. For station prices, see fuel prices on Google Maps and Waze.

How to read the data
  • Latest available = the newest figure published by the relevant source.
  • Current rate = a rate currently in force.
  • Calculated = an FCE calculation based on published data.
  • Historical = a figure from an earlier period.
  • Annual average = an average across a defined period, not today's price.

Latest

At a glance

Data status
Updated successfully
Last successfully checked
19 October 2026 at 12:28
Fuel prices
Week commencing 12 October 2026

Pump prices are weekly national averages published by GOV.UK / DESNZ. The time above is when we last checked, not when prices were measured.

Weekly update

What changed?

Latest movement in the indicators we track. Publishers update on different days, so the dates differ.

What might explain the movement?

GOV.UK publishes the pump-price figure, but it does not attribute each week's movement to individual causes. The data therefore cannot tell us exactly why the price changed.

What the figures show over their latest period:

  • Average petrol price: up (+0.4p a litre).
  • Average diesel price: up (+0.5p a litre).
  • Brent crude: +6.2% over its latest week.
  • The pound against the dollar: +1.0%.
  • Fuel Duty did not change.

Crude oil is priced in dollars, so oil and exchange rates both feed into what the UK pays, but wholesale and retail prices can move at different speeds and margins also change. These figures show correlation and movement, not how much of the change each factor caused. How a litre is priced

Dashboard

Indicators we're tracking

Each indicator shows its own period, geography and source.

Fuel prices

Taxes and government rates

Global fuel-market indicators

Household and economy indicators

Government revenue

Example cost

What does 100 miles cost?

Estimate

£19.92

Based on:

  • a 40 mpg petrol car
  • 175.3p/L latest available petrol price (week commencing 12 October 2026)

Calculation: 100 miles ÷ 40 mpg × 4.54609 litres × 175.3p/L.

This is an FCE estimate, not an official figure. It covers fuel only and excludes other vehicle costs such as insurance, tax, servicing and depreciation.

New · 8 October 2026

Cheaper fuel on the map. But what about the price at the pump?

Google Maps and Waze can help motorists compare fuel prices and find cheaper stations. That is useful information, and people should be able to make informed choices.

But comparison tools do not, by themselves, reduce the underlying cost of fuel. A cheaper station may still be expensive, may be too far away to justify the journey, or may not solve the problem for people who have no realistic alternative to driving.

Fuel affordability also depends on taxation, international oil prices, distribution costs and retailer pricing.

Fuel Crisis England believes that better price information should be part of the solution, not the whole solution. We want a serious discussion about fuel affordability, government taxation, transparency and practical measures to ease the burden on motorists.

A Shell fuel price sign in England displaying 'Regular Unleaded 164.9' and 'Regular Diesel 182.9' pence per litre, photographed May 2026.
A price sign at one station in May 2026: 164.9p unleaded and 182.9p diesel. Each station shows its own prices, which is why a national average is not a station price.

Photo: Gerald England, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Campaign commentary

Finding cheaper fuel is useful. Making fuel affordable is the bigger challenge.

Price comparison is one useful part of the picture. The wider challenge needs attention to government policy, including Fuel Duty and VAT, alongside the other costs that sit behind the pump price. Our criticism is not of Google Maps or Waze; it is of treating price comparison as an adequate answer to fuel affordability.

What Google Maps and Waze help with

  • Comparing available station prices

    Petrol stations must report price changes to the government's Fuel Finder scheme, so apps can show nearby prices side by side.

  • Finding potentially cheaper nearby fuel

    If a station within easy reach charges less, a driver can save some money on a fill-up.

  • Helping drivers make informed choices

    Clearer prices make it easier to see where fuel costs less, and to ask why prices differ.

What they do not solve by themselves

  • The underlying level of pump prices

    Comparing stations moves a driver from one price to another in the same market. If prices are high everywhere, a cheaper station is still expensive.

  • The effect of Fuel Duty and VAT

    Fuel Duty is a flat charge per litre and VAT is added on top. Every station has to include both, and government sets both rates.

  • The cost burden on people who must drive

    Carers, tradespeople, delivery drivers and people in rural areas may have no practical alternative to driving, or few stations within reach.

  • Whether a detour is worth the fuel and time

    Extra miles use fuel and time. Try the detour calculator to see when the saving is used up.

  • The wider impact on household budgets and businesses

    Fuel is an essential cost for many households and for businesses that run on the road.

A weekly average is not a station price

What this site shows

UK weekly average pump prices

175.3p petrol · 200.0p diesel

One national figure per fuel per week, published by GOV.UK / DESNZ for the week of 12 October 2026. It is an average across the country, not the price at any one station, and not a live price.

What Google Maps and Waze show

Prices reported by individual stations

Each station reports its own prices to the government's Fuel Finder scheme, which the apps draw on. These differ from station to station and can change during the day. Fuel Crisis England does not display station prices; use the apps for those.

Official fact

The prices come from the government's Fuel Finder scheme. Since February 2026, petrol stations must report price changes within 30 minutes. Google and the government announced the launch on 8 October 2026.

Government claim, not independently verified

The government says Fuel Finder now reflects around 99% of the fuel sold on UK roads (a measure of fuel sold, not of the number of stations), and that comparing prices could save a household that owns a car about £40 a year on average. The page gives no method for the £40 estimate. We have not verified either figure.

Is the cheaper station worth the drive?

Sample calculation

Change the numbers to match your own journey. The starting values are examples, not data about any real station.

Extra driving is priced at the UK weekly average, 175.3p/L (week of 12 October 2026, GOV.UK / DESNZ). It is an average, not a station price.

Check the actual difference in Google Maps or Waze.

Example value. Use your own.

Saved at the pump
£1.20
Cost of the extra driving
£1.06
Net saving
£0.14

On these numbers the drive saves you about £0.14. It stops paying for itself beyond roughly 6.8 extra miles.

How it works: saving = litres × price difference. Extra driving = extra miles ÷ mpg × 4.546 litres per gallon × the average price. It leaves out your time, wear and tear, and any other trips. It is an illustration, not a prediction.

Sources: Google: fuel prices in Google Maps and Waze (UK) (opens in a new tab) · GOV.UK, 8 October 2026 (opens in a new tab) · GOV.UK: Fuel Finder (opens in a new tab)

Open Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Open Waze (opens in a new tab)See our policy demands

Better price information should be part of the solution.

Add your voice on fuel affordability. This is an FCE campaign petition, not an official UK Parliament petition.

 

Sign the petition

2026 so far

2026 is still in progress

The latest weekly price is not the same thing as a 2026 annual average. We will only publish a verified annual average when the underlying data supports it.
Latest weekly price compared with 2026 averages for petrol and diesel
MeasurePetrolDiesel
Latest availableLatest available175.3p/LWeek commencing 12 October 2026200.0p/LWeek commencing 12 October 2026
2026 year-to-date averageNot yet availableNot yet available
2026 full-year averageNot yet availableNot yet available

Where does your money go?

Live Follow the Money

An illustrative breakdown of the current petrol price using the latest verified pump price and current tax rates.

Compare year:
Known — directly published rate Estimated — calculated or derived amount
Wholesale fuel, refining & distribution · Oil & energy industry Estimated£23.35
Fuel duty · Government Known£15.10
VAT (20%) · Government Known£8.35
Retailer / forecourt margin · Retail Estimated£3.20

Based on a petrol price of 175.3p/litre in 2026. The exact split varies with the fuel price, wholesale costs, retailer margins, and VAT at any given time — this is not a fixed formula.

The wholesale, refining, distribution and retail figures are estimates and should not be interpreted as company profit.

Prices at the pump

Why do nearby petrol stations charge different prices?

Two petrol stations, sometimes only a few miles apart, can charge noticeably different prices for the same fuel on the same day. No single factor explains every difference, and a higher price at one station does not automatically mean wrongdoing.

What the CMA has reported

  • Supermarkets have consistently lower average margins than non-supermarket retailers (see the margins data on the Why Is Fuel So Expensive? page).
  • Individual retailers vary: two unnamed non-supermarket retailers raised prices well beyond the market average in June 2026.

Factors that can affect prices

  • Local competition: how many other stations are nearby.
  • Site costs: motorway service areas and rural sites often have higher running costs.
  • Purchasing scale: large chains can buy fuel more cheaply than independents.

Fuel Finder

Fuel Finder is the UK's government-backed open-data scheme for reporting road-fuel prices. Retailers are required to report price changes, within 30 minutes, under the Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025. The scheme has been operational since February 2026.

As of the CMA's August 2026 report, an estimated 97% of stations were registered, covering an estimated 99% of fuel sales volume. The CMA describes this as an indicative estimate, not an audited figure.

FCE links to the official scheme and guidance rather than presenting an unverified live station-price map of its own. Fuel Finder is not operated by Fuel Crisis England.

Sources: GOV.UK: Fuel Finder and CMA Enhanced Road Fuel Monitoring report, August 2026

A higher price is not automatically profiteering, and a lower price is not automatically better.

The CMA's own analysis of local and regional price variation, and how quickly it reflects fair competition versus other factors, is due in its next (Autumn 2026) report. We will update this page when it is published.

Transparency

Methodology & definitions

What "latest available" means
The newest figure the publisher has released at the time we last checked. Pump prices are weekly UK averages from GOV.UK / DESNZ, so the figure applies to a week, not to a moment.
How current rates are identified
Fuel Duty is the rate in force today, taken from our dated timeline of GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk sources. VAT is the standard rate.
How FCE calculations are made
The pump-price split subtracts Fuel Duty, VAT and the CMA's reported average retailer margin from the latest pump price; what remains is shown as an estimate. The 100-mile figure multiplies litres used by the latest petrol price, using the working shown on the card.
How weekly changes are calculated
The latest published value minus the previous published value from the same source. Crude oil and the exchange rate are compared with their own previous values.
Why indicators have different dates
Each publisher updates on its own schedule (weekly, daily, monthly or annually), so the dates are not meant to match.
Why some figures cannot be compared directly
A weekly price, a year-to-date average and a full-year average measure different periods, and indicators can also differ in geography. We keep them separate.
What happens when an update fails
Prices are checked automatically and each check is validated; implausible or missing data is rejected. If a check fails, the last verified figures stay on the page, marked as awaiting an update with the time of the last successful check.
Historical values
Each weekly price is stored as it is recorded and an existing record is never overwritten.

Every source is listed on our Sources & Methodology page.

Want the long-run picture?

See how today compares with completed historical years, side by side.

Then vs Now