People in the Netherlands are driving more even with fuel prices near record highs

In recent weeks, driving activity in the Netherlands has increased even as fuel prices have risen sharply since March. At the same time, drivers have adjusted their behaviour, with more people choosing to refuel abroad. According to mobility consultancy company Goudappel, this trend is based on figures from the Dutch Mobility Panel.

A study based on over 276,000 recorded trips from 8,160 drivers between February 16 and April 27 shows that driving patterns changed after fuel prices increased. Before the price spike, motorists covered about 188 kilometers per week on average, but this rose to more than 210 kilometers afterward. Car use also became more frequent, increasing from 4.6 to five days per week.

Peter van der Mede of Goudappel calls the figures “remarkable.” He said motorists are typically sensitive to price changes and tend to adjust their behavior accordingly. “Price elasticity is a normal phenomenon in transport,” he explained.

Goudappel found that the share of refueling just across the border in Belgium increased by nearly 40 percent. A similar, though smaller, increase was also seen in Germany. “So we have started driving differently, not less,” Van der Mede concludes.

Fuel prices in the Netherlands have risen sharply in part due to the conflict in the Middle East, while neighboring Germany and Belgium continue to offer lower prices because of reduced fuel taxation. As a result, the Dutch petrol station sector has long warned that border-region stations are losing customers, as many drivers opt to fill up more cheaply just across the border.