Bulgaria recorded the EU's steepest annual rise in fuel prices in September

Bulgaria had the highest annual increase in fuel prices in the European Union in September 2026, at 42.2%, according to Eurostat data published on 21 October and reported by The Sofia Globe. It is not the first time this year: Bulgaria also topped the table in June and August and was third in July.

Three EU countries recorded increases above 40% in September compared with September 2025: Bulgaria (42.2%), Estonia (40.6%) and Lithuania (40.2%). A further 12 countries saw rises of more than 30%, ranging from 37.5% in Czechia to 30.3% in Portugal. The smallest increase was in Hungary, at 6.9%, followed at a distance by Ireland (17.7%) and Sweden (19.9%).

Across the EU, the price of fuels and lubricants for personal transport rose by 31.4% year on year in September, after increases of 16.9% in July and 23.8% in August. Between August and September alone, diesel prices in the EU rose by 5.9% and petrol by 6.7%, Eurostat said. Diesel and petrol prices increased in 26 EU countries over that month.

Pump prices tracked by the fuelo.net website show how sharp the change has been for Bulgarian drivers. On 27 February, the eve of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, a litre of A95 petrol cost an average of EUR 1.26 in Bulgaria. By 21 October the average had reached EUR 1.65. Diesel rose from EUR 1.29 to EUR 1.91 a litre over the same period.

Diesel matters especially for Bulgarian businesses, because road haulage, agriculture, construction and distribution all depend on it. Higher fuel costs feed through into delivery charges and, in turn, into the prices of goods that have to be transported.

In practice, a company running a delivery van now pays almost half as much again for each litre of diesel as it did at the end of February.