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Fuel Excise Clearances May 2026

Autodiesel clearances were 3.1% lower in the last 12 months

Online ISSN: 2737-7202
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Key Findings

  • Autodiesel clearances were 3.1% lower in the 12-month rolling period of June 2025-May 2026 compared with June 2024-May 2025 (See Table A).

  • Unleaded Petrol clearances were 5% higher in January to May 2026 compared with January to May 2025. In the 12-month rolling period of June 2025-May 2026 compared with June 2024-May 2025, Unleaded Petrol clearances were 5.7% higher (See Table A).

  • Kerosene clearances were 5.7% lower in January to May 2026 compared with the same five-month period in 2025 (See Table A).

  • Marked Gas Oil clearances decreased by 2% in the 12-month rolling period of June 2025-May 2026 compared with June 2024-May 2025 (See Table A).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (04 August 2026) published Fuel Excise Clearances May 2026. 

Commenting on the release, Orla McCarthy, Senior Statistician in the Climate and Energy Division, said: "Autodiesel clearances were 3.1% lower in the 12-month rolling period of June 2025-May 2026 compared with June 2024-May 2025. This equates to 3.37 billion litres of Autodiesel clearances in the 12 months to May 2026. Unleaded petrol clearances increased by 5.7% over the same period. This equates to 1.15 billion litres of Unleaded Petrol clearances in the 12 months to May 2026.

Marked Gas Oil clearances decreased by 3.7% in January to May 2026 compared with the same five-month period in 2025.

Kerosene excise clearances were 5.7% lower in January to May 2026 compared with the same period in 2025 (See Table A). Kerosene clearances for May 2026 were the lowest Kerosene clearances for May since 2010. Kerosene is typically used for home heating.

Clearances are the duty paid on the quantity of oil removed from bonded warehouses and provide a proxy for sales (See Editor’s Note below)."

Editor's Note

An annual Fuel Excise Clearances PxStat Table has been added to this statistical releasesee FPA01.

The data used in this release mainly relate to the Revenue Commissioners monthly excise clearance volumes. The use of transport fuels such as Autodiesel and Unleaded Petrol are less seasonal than the use of home heating fuels. Price changes and exceptional weather can cause variations in the trends of excise clearances of home heating oils between years. Changes in the vehicle fleet fuel type composition can affect the mix in clearances of road fuels. See the Background Notes for the full definition of fuel excise clearances.

Excise Clearances Percentage Changes for Selected Fuels May 2026

There was a 2.6% decrease in Autodiesel excise clearances in January to May 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Marked Gas Oil decreased by 3.7% over the same period. Unleaded Petrol clearances increased by 5.7% in the 12-month rolling period of June 2025-May 2026 compared with June 2024-May 2025.  Kerosene clearances decreased by 5.7% in January to May 2026 compared with the same period in 2025 (See Table A).

Table A: Excise Clearances Percentage Changes for Selected Fuels May 2026
FuelYear-to-Date January-May 2026/202512-Month Rolling Period June-May 2026/2025
Autodiesel-2.6%-3.1%
Unleaded Petrol5.0%5.7%
Marked Gas Oil-3.7%-2.0%
Kerosene-5.7%-0.6%

Trends in May Clearances 2026

Excise clearances of Unleaded Petrol in January to May 2026 were 5% higher than in January to May 2025.  Unleaded Petrol clearances for the first five months of 2026 at 473 million litres were the highest for the first five months of the year since 2017. 

Autodiesel clearances for the first five months of 2026 at 1.39 billion litres were the lowest for the January to May period since 2021.

Marked Gas Oil clearances in the 12-month rolling period of June 2025-May 2026 compared with June 2024-May 2025 were 2% lower.

Kerosene clearances for May 2026 were the lowest clearances for May since 2010.

Figure 1: Excise Clearances of Selected Fuels January 2022 to May 2026
Table 1A Monthly Excise Clearances of Autodiesel, Unleaded Petrol, Marked Gas Oil, and Kerosene (Million litres) May 2025 to May 2026
Table 1B Monthly Excise Clearances of Autodiesel, Unleaded Petrol, Marked Gas Oil, and Kerosene (Million litres) May 2017-May 2026

Trends in Annual Clearances 2000-2025

In 2025 Autodiesel excise clearances were 3.4 billion litres which was 71.0% higher than the 2000 Autodiesel clearances figure of 2 billion litres. In 2025 Unleaded Petrol excise clearances were 1.1 billion litres which was 42.5% lower than the 2000 Unleaded Petrol clearances figure of 2 billion litres (See Figure 2 and Table 2).

Figure 2: Annual Clearances of Selected Fuels 2000-2025
Table 2 Annual Excise Clearances (Million litres) 2000-2025

Trends in Wholesale Price Index for Selected Fuels 2021 to 2026

Figure 3 (See below) shows trends in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for selected fuels. Wholesale prices of Gas oil (other than Autodiesel) and Fuel oil remain high in May 2026 although both decreased from April. This Wholesale Price Index series is compiled to base 2021=100.

Figure 3: Monthly Wholesale Price Index January 2021 to May 2026

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