Sales of liquid fuels to domestic transport

The decrease in fuel consumption of new cars and the increase in the share of electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the car fleet have reduced the demand for liquid fuels during recent years. In the years 2020-2021, the covid pandemics has also significantly reduced the energy consumption of road traffic, because mileage decreased due to the travel restrictions and lock down.

According to Statistics Finland, petrol was sold approximately 6.0 percent less in 2020 than in 2019. In 2021, petrol sales increased by 2.2 percent compared to the covid year 2020, but consumption was still 3.9 percent lower than in pre-covid in 2019.

About 70 percent of the diesel fuel used in road transport is used in truck, bus and van traffic and about 30 percent in passenger car traffic. Diesel fuel sales decreased in 2020 by approximately 5.7 percent compared to 2019. In 2021, diesel sales increased by 3.8 percent compared to 2020, but total consumption was 2.1 percent lower than in 2019, the year before the corona virus.

The share of passenger cars in diesel consumption has increased over the past decade, as the number of diesel passenger cars has increased by approximately 50 percent compared to 2010. While there were around 505,000 diesel driven passenger cars in the fleet in 2010, the number at the end of 2021 was around 746,000.

In 2022, the prices of transport fuels have risen considerably, as Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine has tightened the energy market. Economic growth has also slowed down, which has reduced the demand for freight transport. The rise in fuel prices and the slowdown in economic growth have reduced diesel sales in January-June 2022 by approximately 2.9 percent compared to the first half of 2021. Sales of petrol decreased in the first half of 2022 by 5.0 percent compared to 2021.

In gasoline, the change has also been seen as a shift from the more expensive 98 E5 gasoline blend to the 95 E10 blend. In January-June 2022, 98-octane gasoline was sold approximately 23 percent less than in the beginning of 2021 - instead, sales of 95 E10 quality increased by 1.5 percent. The share of 98-octane E5 fuel in the sold petrol has decreased to 21 percent during the beginning of the year, while the share has been 25-27 percent in previous years.

The fuel sales statistics also include the shares of bio-components. The energy consumption of road transport by fuel type is presented as part of the energy statistics.