Diesel accounts for most of the extra road fuel cost. T&E estimates that an EU diesel driver paid €142 more over the period it studied, while a German long-haul truck faced an extra €236 a week.
Since the start of the Iran war, higher road fuel prices have cost the EU an estimated €53 billion, according to a report published on Wednesday by Brussels-based environmental group Transport & Environment (T&E).
Most of that extra cost — €40 billion — came from diesel. T&E estimates that higher road fuel prices have added an average of €270 million a day to transport costs, including €203 million a day for diesel. The remaining €67 million a day is attributable to petrol.
The estimates compare costs during the war with the same period last year, adjusted for inflation. They cover the 28 weeks to 6 September.
“Europe is the most reliant major economy on diesel,” T&E says.
Diesel and gasoil account for about 43% of the oil products used in the EU by volume — around 16 percentage points above the global average and roughly twice the US share. Nearly four in 10 passenger cars on EU roads ran on diesel in 2024.
Road transport used 77% of the EU’s diesel and gasoil that year. Cars accounted for the largest share of road use, followed by heavy trucks and buses, then vans. Diesel is also used in farming, construction and some homes, though fuel used by machinery off the road is not included in T&E’s €203 million daily road diesel estimate.
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