Is the increase in the price of gasoline “9 cents” in one year for an average cost of 80 euros per French, as Jean Castex says?

In the coming weeks, 38 million French people will receive a check for 100 euros. THE’“inflation compensation” should make it possible to respond to concerns about soaring fuels and purchasing power. To justify this bonus, Jean Castex told TF1’s 8 p.m. newscast on Thursday, October 21: “If I look at the year: +9 cents per liter at the pump. Our fellow citizens travel 14,000 kilometers per year on average. There are some who do more, others who do less, but we have to talk on average. So you see, that makes an additional 80 euros over the year on our gas bill payable. ” Except that the Prime Minister’s statement is very imprecise and partly false.

The 9 cent increase mentioned by Jean Castex is valid for the last weeks, and the last months but not for the whole year, according to figures from the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Over one year, since October 2020, the increase is rather 30 to 35 cents. For example, diesel has gone from 1.21 euros a year ago to 1.56 euros this week. A record for diesel. We see the same trend for unleaded 95, which went from 1.31 to 1.63 euros. Jean Castex does not mention the increase since January 1 either, because there too the 9 cents do not stick, since we are closer to 29 cents increase, all fuel combined.

Given that Jean Castex is based on an inaccurate increase of 9 cents, franceinfo has redone the calculation taking into account an increase of around 30 cents. To be as precise as possible, we took the average consumption of a diesel car, i.e. 6 liters per 100 kilometers according to the Committee of French automakers. If we base ourselves on an average of 14,000 kilometers per year, as the Prime Minister says, the additional cost linked to fuel increases since the start of the year is approaching 200 euros rather than 80.

Moreover, Jean Castex is also imprecise on the 14,000 kilometers traveled on average by the French. According to the latest report on transport traffic published by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, an individual drives an average of 12,200 kilometers per year. The number 14,000 corresponds to light commercial vehicles.