The price of home heating oil rose by 67.5% in the month between February and March 2026 and was up by 63.3% in the last 12 months, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

This was the largest annual increase in the price of home heating oil since September 2022 when prices increased by 83.7% year-on-year.

The price of diesel and petrol increased by 18.1% and 7.7% respectively in March 2026 and were up by 16.5% and 5.7% since March 2025.

This was the largest annual rise in the price of diesel since November 2022 when prices went up by 24.7%.

It was the largest annual increase in petrol prices since July 2024 when prices rose by 8.8% when compared with July 2023.

Consumer price index

The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 3.6% in the last 12 months and was up by 1.6% since February 2026.

Home heating oil contributed 0.52 percentage points towards the overall inflation rate in March 2026.

Diesel and petrol contributed 0.27 and 0.11 percentage points towards the overall inflation rate in March, respectively.

In March 2026, the consumer price sub-index for home heating oil was at its highest level since the CSO started publishing detailed price sub-indices in November 1996.

Diesel and petrol were at their highest price levels since July 2022 and August 2022, respectively.

The national average price in March 2026 for diesel was €2.05 while petrol was €1.88. 

CPI

Anthony Dawson, statistician in the CSO prices division, said that the CPI shows that prices for consumer goods and services in March 2026 rose by 3.6% on average when compared with March 2025.

He explained: "Consumer prices in March 2026 rose by 1.6% in the month compared with March 2025, when prices were up 0.7% in the month.

"The rise in transport prices was primarily due to increases in the prices of diesel and petrol as well as higher costs for air fares.

"The rise in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was due to increased costs for home heating oil, rent payments and mortgage interest."