Payment card data shows that ten percent less gasoline is bought in Finland than last year, but 40 percent more is still consumed.
Fuel prices have risen in Finland this summer to a record high of no less than 60 percent from last year.
Although prices have fallen from the peaks of early summer, a liter of gasoline and diesel costs more than two euros on average.
According to payment card data collected by retail banks OP and Nordea, Finns have bought ten percent less fuel this summer than last year. At the same time, drivers are spending 40 percent more on fuel due to rising prices.
Consumers continue to struggle with high fuel prices, according to analysts who told Yle that it is difficult to predict the development of fuel costs in the coming months.
Nordea analyst Lauri Vepsäläinen said it is unlikely that prices will fall in the short term.
"I would estimate that the prices will remain at the current level in the coming months. It doesn’t look like they will drop sharply as oil prices are expected to remain high," he explained.
Tiina VikstenThe development manager of the ABC gas station chain, said that the instability of the global economy makes it difficult to estimate future fuel prices.
"It is very difficult to try to predict gasoline prices right now. Most of the predictions have probably gone wrong in one way or another," he said.
However, Vepsäläinen did not rule out the possibility that fuel prices could rise to new highs.
"Gasoline prices may start to rise in the coming months. Crude oil prices rose in June and this is also possible in the near future," he explained.
Motorists who responded to a recent survey by the insurance company LähiTapiola said that they spend an average of 330 euros per month on driving expenses.
Source: The Nordic Page