UK petrol prices hit eight-year high
After nine consecutive months of rises, petrol prices have reached an eight-year high.
According to the RAC, prices at the pump now cost consumers 135.13p per litre of petrol, the highest level since September 2013. Diesel also now costs an average of 137.06p a litre, its highest price since 2014.
A driver filling up a 55-litre car with petrol now pays on average £3.08 more to fill up than they did at the start of June, and £11.47 more than they did a year ago.
The picture is barely better for diesel drivers; filling a similarly sized tank now costs £2.90 more than at the start of June, and £10.46 more than it did at the end of July 2020.
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“Prices really are only going one way at the moment – and that’s not the way drivers want to see them going. With a second summer staycation in full swing, it’s proving to be a particularly costly one for many families who are using their cars to holiday here in the UK," said RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams.
"With so many people depending on their vehicles, there’s really nothing drivers can do to escape the high prices, and our best advice is for them to drive as economically as possible in order to try to make their money go further."
Regionally, the East Midlands came in as the region with the highest price difference from the beginning of July to the end of July in terms of petrol.
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Consumer inflation is on high alert at the moment, with prices forecast to rise across the board.
On Monday, a leading think tank forecast inflation to hit 3.9% next year.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said that inflation would soar to almost double the Bank of England's (BoE) target rate in early 2022, before falling back to 2% in 2023 following a bank interest rate hike. This would be the highest rate of inflation since late-2011.
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