Lisbon, March 17, 2026 – A table has recently been circulating that places Portugal at the top of the list for fuel price rises, with an increase of 23 cents, compared to rises of just three to 10 cents in 12 other European countries, but these figures are false.
+++ Claim: “Portugal has the highest fuel price increase compared to all
+++ other EU (European Union) countries” +++
Since 10 March, dozens of posts have been circulating on social media showing a table of alleged fuel price rises due to the conflict in Iran, with Portugal highlighted as having the highest price increase (https://archive.ph/4DpAb, https://archive.ph/9oMV8, https://archive.ph/ZEsR3 e https://archive.ph/EKoNH).
Apart from Portugal, with a rise of a further 23 cents per litre, the table includes the alleged increases in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Czechia and Austria, although versions featuring only six countries are also circulating (https://archive.ph/pxrUI, https://archive.ph/mY9yf, https://archive.ph/wHfD5 and https://archive.ph/nGhnV).
According to the data, price rises in these European countries ranged from three to 10 cents per litre, with Spain coming second after Portugal, with a rise of only eight to 10 cents, followed by Italy, with increases of six to nine cents.
Germany, for example, shows smaller increases, between five and eight cents per litre, whilst France is reported to have seen rises of no more than two to five cents, according to various versions of the table which do not specify whether the prices cover petrol and diesel.
In addition to hundreds of shares on open social media platforms, the table is also circulating on closed networks such as WhatsApp and other platforms that allow direct sharing in groups or via direct messages, as commentator Manuel Monteiro, former leader of the CDS (People's Party), explained on Monday on TSF’s Café Duplo programme: https://archive.ph/IaXw2 (from minute 8:11).
“A message is circulating (...) claiming that Portugal is where the rise in fuel prices is the highest compared to all other EU countries, which are also being affected. I repeat, it is circulating; I do not know if it is true, [but] if it is true, it is a genuine scandal, because the differences set out there are of a very considerable amount”, he stated.
+++ Facts: the data presented for other European countries is false and
+++ falls far short of the actual increases+++
Reverse searches of the various versions of the table failed to identify the original source, but checks with national and international bodies that monitor fuel prices, as well as media outlets in some of the countries mentioned, reveal that the figures presented are false.
Public data from the European Commission’s Weekly Oil Bulletin, for example, which provides information and maps with weekly updates on petroleum product prices across all EU countries, shows that the figures in the viral table do not correspond to reality: https://archive.ph/MuKJk.
Lusa Verifica calculated the differences between the official average prices recorded over the last three weeks, between 23 February and 9 March, and found that Portugal recorded average increases of around 22 cents for diesel and nine cents for petrol, but these were not the largest increases in the EU nor in the group of 13 countries identified in the table, which includes the United Kingdom.
For diesel, there are countries with average price rises similar to those in Portugal, such as Spain, Belgium, and seven countries with higher increases, led by Germany at 43 cents, followed by the Netherlands (38), Austria (35), Luxembourg and Poland (31), France (30) and the Czech Republic (24). As for petrol, the average increase of around nine cents recorded in Portugal between the same dates is matched by Italy, exceeded by nine other countries: Germany (25), Austria (20), Spain, France and Belgium (13), Poland and the Czech Republic (12), the Netherlands and Luxembourg (11). Lusa Verifica also consulted the updated data for the entire European Union available on the Global Petrol Prices platform, which shows that Portugal is far from leading the price rises following the US and Israeli military strikes on Iran: https://archive.ph/kgeDn.
According to data available on Monday, 16 March, Portugal was the eleventh EU country with the highest increases in diesel prices, with a rise of 14.6% since 23 February, ranking 33rd globally, falling to 13th in the EU, 50th globally for petrol price increases, which stood at around 5.5% over the same period.
Further reports across the European media also reveal the scale of price rises in Germany (https://archive.ph/L3BkZ), the Netherlands (https://archive.ph/w2R2z), and Austria (https://archive.ph/yhdY3), for example, three economies that have seen fuel price rises exceeding those in Portugal.
The Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) calculates average fuel prices in Portugal daily, “based on prices reported by petrol stations, weighted by the quantities sold during the most recent known period, incorporating discounts offered by petrol stations such as fleet cards and others.”
According to the latest data available on the DGEG website, the average price of diesel rose by 32 cents between 28 February and 16 March, rising from €1.596 per litre to €1.915, whilst regular 95 octane petrol rose by 17 cents over the same period, from €1.681 per litre to €1.849: https://archive.ph/8veE9.
+++ Lusa Verifica Assessment: False +++
The table claiming that Portugal has seen the biggest rise in fuel prices, higher than 12 other European countries, is false. Official data shows that average diesel prices rose more sharply in seven of the countries identified, with Spain seeing increases similar to Portugal, whilst petrol prices rose more sharply in nine of those countries. LYGA/MYAL // ADB.
Lusa
