Fuel costs rise by £1.3bn in a year

UK motorists have spent an additional £1.13bn during the last 12 months because of the rising cost of petrol and diesel.

This is according to used car platform CarGurus, which calculated the average monthly cost of diesel and petrol prices from June 2021 to June 2022 based on the average monthly mileage and average mpg of petrol and diesel cars in the UK.

It found that 12 months ago, drivers were spending around £2.31bn a month.

However, with the average cost of petrol and diesel reaching 191.25p and 199.02p per litre at the end of June, it’s estimated that in June 2022 the figure had risen to £3.44bn, which represents a percentage increase of 49%.

For the average UK driver, this amounts to an extra £30 a month – equating to £360 over the course of the year.

When looking at the last 12 months, the largest month-on-month rise took place between May and June 2022, with the monthly spend jumping from £2.9bn to £3.44bn.

These findings support a recent study conducted by CarGurus that revealed fuel consumption is now the number one priority for UK car buyers, with 57% declaring it as one of their most important considerations with deciding their next vehicle purchase.