Insee Analyses · September 2024 · n° 97

Border residents significantly adjust their fuel purchases in Germany based on the price difference with France

In 2021, in metropolitan France excluding Corsica, fuel purchases abroad accounted for 4.4% of household fuel expenses. This share exceeded 20% in some border departments.

From the end of 2020 to early 2023, fuel prices evolved very differently in France and Germany due to fiscal choices, such as the introduction of a carbon tax in Germany in 2021 and fuel discounts implemented by both countries in 2022. Households living in the departments bordering Germany adjusted their purchasing behavior in response to these price differences. They increasingly turned to fuel stations in France when German fuel prices rose compared to French prices.

During this period, a relative increase of 10 cents in the German price led to a halving of fuel purchases in Germany by households in the border departments. The share of fuel quantity bought in Germany by these households, calculated among purchases in France and Germany only, thus dropped from more than 15% at the end of 2020 to 8% in 2021 and well below 5% in certain months of 2022, before rising again to over 10% in early 2023.