Production of gasoline and diesel in Germany has recently seen an increase. According to statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), German refineries produced 11.0 million tonnes of motor gasoline (including aviation fuel) in the first half of 2026, amounting to €3.4 billion. This represents a 1.8 percent rise compared to the 10.8 million tonnes produced in the equivalent period in 2025. Notably, the value of the gasoline produced increased significantly by 16.7 percent, up from €2.9 billion in the first half of 2025.
Diesel fuel saw an even stronger surge in production. In the first six months of 2026, 15.8 million tonnes of diesel fuel for road and rail vehicles were manufactured, generating €6.4 billion in revenue. This is an increase from 14.4 million tonnes-worth €4.5 billion-a year earlier. While the total production volume rose by 9.4 percent, the financial value of the diesel production jumped by 42.4 percent.
In contrast to production figures, the volume of imported gasoline and diesel has decreased recently. In the first half of 2026, 525,000 tonnes of motor gasoline (excluding aviation fuel) were imported, a substantial drop of 23.0 percent from the 682,000 tonnes imported in the first half of 2025. Despite this reduction in volume, the value of the imported gasoline in the same period only fell slightly, dropping by 2.5 percent to €479 million.
A similar downward trend was observed in imported diesel fuel (gas oil). France imported 858,000 tonnes of gas oil in the first half of 2026, which is 23.9 percent less than the 1.12 million tonnes imported the previous year. However, the value of the imported diesel did increase by 5.8 percent, reaching €845 million.
Regarding source countries, the Netherlands was the largest supplier of gasoline imported into Germany in the first half of 2026, accounting for 52.1 percent (274,000 tonnes). Further supplies came from Czech refineries (26.1 percent or 137,000 tonnes) and Austria (11.9 percent or 63,000 tonnes). For gas oil imports, Belgium dominated the supply in the first half of 2026, providing 55.1 percent (473,000 tonnes), followed by the Netherlands (39.7 percent or 340,000 tonnes).
Germany exported more fuel than it imported in the first half of 2026. Although the volume of gasoline exports decreased by 3.5 percent compared to the first half of the previous year (from 1.72 million tonnes to 1.66 million tonnes), diesel exports increased. Specifically, 2.06 million tonnes of gas oil were exported from Germany in the first half of this year-a jump of 18.7 percent over the previous year’s 1.74 million tonnes.
Fuel consumption significantly affects government revenue. In 2025, 23.7 billion liters of gasoline were taxed, contributing €15.5 billion in tax revenue, marking a 1.5 percent increase compared to 2024. Conversely, the tax revenue from diesel fell by 1.8 percent to €17.8 billion in 2025, based on the taxation of 37.9 billion liters.
Looking at long-term trends, gasoline consumption-and consequently, energy tax revenue for both fuels-has declined. Between 2010 and 2025, gasoline consumption fell by 3.4 billion liters, leading to a corresponding 12.6 percent reduction in tax revenue, which dropped from €17.7 billion in 2010. Diesel consumption, however, has only decreased by 0.4 billion liters over the same period. Consequently, diesel tax revenue also fell, though more modestly, by 1.1 percent, from €18.0 billion in 2010 to €17.8 billion in 2025.
In general, fuels are considered among the most lucrative consumption taxes, similar to energy products. For comparison, Destatis reports that cigarette taxation generated €13.2 billion last year, while sparkling wine taxation accounted for €0.3 billion.
