Accredited official statistics

Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin commentary (April to June)

Updated 31 July 2024

1. Hydrocarbon Oils statistics notes

This Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin has been updated with provisional data from April to June 2024. From 23 March 2022, a 12 month reduction in fuel duties was introduced, and extended by a further 12 months from 23 March 2023, which impacts on receipts and clearances from April 2022 onwards. It is not possible to disaggregate impacts from this policy and other factors potentially impacting hydrocarbon oils.

2. Headlines

The latest hydrocarbon oils headline statistics are:

• the provisional year-to-date (April to June) total for hydrocarbon oils receipts during the 2024 to 2025 financial year is £6,092 million, £165 million (2.6%) lower than the same period during the previous financial year

• the provisional year-to-date (April to June) total for petrol receipts during the 2024 to 2025 financial year is £2,308 million, £53 million (2.3%) higher than the same period during the previous financial year

• the provisional year-to-date (April to June) total for diesel receipts during the 2024 to 2025 financial year is £3,723 million, £203 million (5.2%) lower than the same period during the previous financial year

3. About this release

This HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publication provides quarterly provisional National Statistics of receipts and quantities released for consumption for excise duty charged on fuels and oils. National Statistics are accredited official statistics.

Duty is charged when motor and heating fuels and oils are produced, imported or used in the UK. These statistics include data for hydrocarbon (mineral) oils, biofuels, fuel substitutes and fuel additives.

These statistics report trends for tax liabilities and payments (receipts) by hydrocarbon oil traders. This is done by reporting levels of goods made available for consumption after passing through a duty point, as this is the point at which duty is payable to HMRC.

The statistics in this release are based on data from recent and historic trader returns up to and including June 2024. Detailed statistics on clearances and receipts are provided in the accompanying tables.

4. Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Impacts from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and public health measures in response are particularly visible within changing trends to receipts collected for hydrocarbon oils during the 2020 to 2021 financial year.

Go to coronavirus (COVID-19) for the latest coronavirus information and guidance.

5. Monthly hydrocarbon oils receipts

Total excise duty receipts are calculated by summing together excise duty receipts from all types of diesel, petrol, and other oils duties.

Figure 1: Total hydrocarbon oils receipts by month during the current and previous 2 financial years, in £ million.

Figure 1 demonstrates several trends for total hydrocarbon oils receipts:

• although patterns for hydrocarbons receipts reflect pre pandemic years, levels remain lower, for example April to June 2024 receipts are £959 million (13.6%) below the same period in 2019 and £1.1 billion (15%) below the same period in 2018 (Note)

• receipts for hydrocarbon oils are lower by 18.9% in July 2023 than in July 2022 and higher by 19.7% in August 2023 than in August 2022 as a result of timing effects during that period

• decreases in gas oil receipts are related to the removal of entitlement for most sectors to use gas oil from 1 April 2022

• hydrocarbons receipts for the first quarter of the 2024 to 2025 financial year are in line with receipts in the same period of the 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 financial years

Note: For the full dataset underlying Figure 1 and these statistical headlines go to Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin tables (April 2024 to June 2024).

6. Petrol and diesel excise duty receipts

6.1 Petrol excise duty

Total petrol excise duty receipts are calculated by summing together excise duty receipts from several different motor spirits, over 90% of which is unleaded petrol.

Figure 2: Petrol excise duty receipts by month during the current and previous 2 financial years, in £ million.

Figure 2 demonstrates several trends for petrol receipts:

• the provisional previous quarter (April 2024 to June 2024) total petrol receipts are £2,308 million, which is £53 million (2%) higher than the same period during the previous financial year

• although reflecting pre-coronavirus levels in the first quarter of the year, recent petrol receipts remain lower, for example April to June 2024 receipts are £163 million (6.6%) below the same period in 2019 and £188 million (7.5%) below 2018

• receipts for petrol are lower by 12.7% in July 2023 than in July 2022 and higher by 26.2% in August 2023 than in August 2022 as a result of timing effects during that period

• receipts for the first quarter of 2024 to 2025 financial year are in line with receipts for the previous two financial years

For the full dataset underlying Figure 2 and these statistical headlines go to Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin tables (April 2024 to June 2024).

6.2 Diesel excise duty

Total diesel excise duty receipts are calculated by summing together excise duty receipts from several different types of diesel.

Figure 3: Diesel excise duty receipts by month during the current and previous 2 financial years, in £ million.

Figure 3 demonstrates several trends for diesel receipts:

• the provisional previous quarter (April 2024 to June 2024) total diesel receipts are £3,723 million, which is £203 million (5%) lower than the same period during the previous financial year

• although patterns for diesel receipts reflect pre pandemic years, levels remain lower, for example April to June 2024 receipts are £0.6 billion (14%) below the same period in 2019 and £0.8 billion (17.5%) below 2018

• receipts for diesel are lower by 21.9% in July 2023 than in July 2022 and higher by 15.6% in August 2023 than in August 2022 as a result of timing effects during that period

For the full dataset underlying Figure 3 and these statistical headlines go to Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin tables (April 2024 to June 2024).

6.3 Petrol and diesel excise duty comparison

Figure 4: Petrol and diesel excise duty receipts by month during the current and previous eight financial years, in £ million.

For the full dataset that accompanies Figure 4 go to Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin tables (April 2024 to June 2024).

Figure 4 demonstrates the following trends for quarterly diesel and petrol receipts during the current and previous 8 financial years:

• since the financial year ending 2017, petrol and diesel excise had plateaued until the first quarter of the 2020 to 2021 financial year which saw a large unseasonal decrease for both petrol and excise duty receipts, likely due to impacts from the coronavirus pandemic

• following volatility in the 2020 to 2021 financial year likely caused by economic impacts related to the coronavirus, receipts increased at the start of the 2021 to 2022 financial year and have remained at relatively stable levels since

6.4 Contacts

The Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin is produced by the Indirect Tax Receipts Monitoring team as part of the Excise duties, VAT, and other indirect tax statistics collection.

Contact revenuemonitoring@hmrc.gov.uk for statistical enquiries.

Contact HMRC press office for media enquiries.