Monday, 21 September 2026
Germany’s latest surge in fuel prices is creating additional cost pressure for logistics companies, construction businesses and industrial operators at a time when the country is already confronting wider questions over competitiveness. Berlin is responding with a temporary reduction in fuel taxation worth around €2.5bn. From 1 October until the end of 2026, the energy tax on petrol and diesel is due to fall by €0.14 per litre, equivalent to approximately €0.17 per litre once the associated VAT effect is included.
European Commission data analysed by DIW Berlin illustrate the scale of the differences across Europe. On 14 September, the German national average stood at €2.36 per litre for petrol and €2.43 for diesel. Petrol was €1.83 in Czechia and €1.82 in Poland, while diesel averaged €1.99 and €2.01 respectively. Spain recorded diesel at €1.83. These are weekly national averages rather than individual filling-station prices, but they demonstrate the substantially different fuel-cost environment confronting companies operating across European markets.
Taxes account for much of the difference, although not all of it. DIW calculates that petrol in Czechia was approximately €0.53 per litre cheaper than in Germany, with more than €0.33 of the difference resulting from taxes and levies. Differences remained before taxation, with Czech petrol approximately €0.20 per litre below Germany and diesel around €0.17 lower. Transport expenses, wholesale-market structures, blending requirements and competition are among the possible explanations, although the available data do not establish how much each factor contributes.
For commercial property, the issue is particularly relevant to road freight and businesses operating large vehicle fleets. Warehouses and factories may not themselves consume substantial quantities of diesel, but the supply chains connecting them do. Higher fuel expenditure can feed into the cost of transporting construction materials, supplying factories, moving finished products and operating regional and last-mile distribution networks. European road-freight evidence during 2026 indicates that higher diesel expenses have already contributed to rising transport rates, making fuel another consideration for occupiers assessing distribution networks and industrial locations
Germany nevertheless has limited scope to respond indefinitely through lower fuel taxation. EU rules establish minimum excise rates, and DIW calculates that the planned reduction would bring German diesel taxation close to the European minimum. Questions also remain over how completely tax reductions reach customers. Germany’s previous May-June intervention cost around €1.6bn, and DIW estimates that more than €200m of the potential benefit was ultimately not transmitted to motorists, although German competition authorities concluded that the measure was largely reflected in consumer prices overall.
A possible fuel-price ceiling is also being considered, but this approach introduces different risks. DIW points to European research suggesting that maximum prices can become reference points around which filling stations cluster, potentially encouraging cheaper operators to move prices towards the ceiling. The institute also warns that an overly restrictive limit could put pressure on low-margin rural filling stations. Other relief mechanisms have their own limitations: reducing VAT would have little direct effect on the net fuel expense of businesses entitled to recover input VAT, while targeted assistance to fuel-intensive smaller companies would require a separate payment mechanism.
For Germany’s industrial and logistics property markets, the significance of the fuel shock therefore extends beyond filling-station prices. Fuel remains only one component of the location equation alongside labour, electricity, rents, taxation, infrastructure and productivity, and the current price differences do not demonstrate that companies will relocate operations from Germany. However, with diesel substantially cheaper in several competing European manufacturing and logistics markets, prolonged high transport costs could become another factor influencing supply-chain design, warehouse locations and future industrial investment decisions.
