A Facebook post argues that although Portugal has not bought oil from Russia for two years, It is the country where the price of fuel has risen the most. “Incredible”, evaluates the author of the message, which has meanwhile been shared by at least seven other accounts on the same social network.

It is true that the Portuguese dependence on Russian oil is “relatively limited”, as confirmed by João Gomes Cravinho, Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to the Ministry of the Environment, since 2020 Portugal does not import oil from Russia.

But It is not true that Portugal is the country where the price of fuel has risen the most — and proof of this is the data indicated by an official source from the Ministry of the Environment, systematized in the weekly reports dedicated to oil published by the European Commission.

The publication does not refer to the period in which the increase in fuel prices in Portugal would have exceeded that of other countries (nor does it specify which group of countries it considers for the statement it makes. But let’s see the document published on the previous Monday at the beginning of the war in Ukraine (February 21) and the report of the Monday prior to the publication of the statements analyzed here (May 2), which can be consulted here.

The price of a liter of diesel in Portugal on February 21, after taxes, was approximately 1.66 euros. But it has risen since then and, in the last update before the post hit Facebook, it was already at 1.84 euros. It is an increase of 0.18 euros.

But in other countries of the European Union the rise was greater. Among the 27 countries that make up the European bloc, Portugal is approximately in the middle of the table. of price increases, in 13th place. Sweden heads the list, with an increase of 0.45 euros in the same period.

Portugal is still not the country that registers the greatest increase in terms of gasoline. Between February 21 and May 2, the price of this fuel increased from 1.81 to 1.88 euros. It’s another seven cents but, in the same range, the price in Denmark increased by 0.27 euros. This is the country that leads the way.

As for gasoline, Portugal appears near the bottom of the table, in 21st place. Only six countries are below and, of these, only two saw the price of gasoline decrease between the two dates analyzed: Italy and Hungary, where seven cents less was paid.

Even if the author of the publication referred to the price of fuel, not its increase, it would not be true that Portugal headed the list, looking only at the European Union or not. The country that on May 2 had the most expensive diesel was also Sweden (1.63 euros per liter); and, in gasoline, it was Denmark (2.18 euros).

The argument does not hold either if we look at the percentage increase —and not absolute— in fuel prices, both gasoline and diesel. The rise of 0.45 cents between February 21 and May 2 in the value of diesel corresponds to an increase of 11.1% in relation to the price of the first date. This percentage is far from being the highest: in fact, it is the fifth lowest in the European Union. In this topic, the The largest percentage increase occurred in Poland, with 32.3%.

The case is repeated if we do accounts with gasoline. The increase of 0.27 euros in Portugal corresponds to an increase of 3.6%, the fourth lowest increase in the European Union. In Poland, which also leads the percentage increase in gasoline prices, the increase was 19.4%.

conclusion

It is false that Portugal is the country that has registered the highest increase in fuel prices since the war in Ukraine broke out, even taking into account that it is true that Portugal has not imported Russian crude since 2020. The largest absolute increase in the price of diesel was recorded in Sweden; and in the price of gasoline the greatest increase was registered in Denmark. These are also the countries that, respectively, have the most expensive diesel and gasoline in the European Union. And Poland has the largest percentage increase in both fuels.

Thus, according to the Observer classification system, this content is:

WRONG

In the Facebook rating system, this content is:

FAKE: The main content claims are factually inaccurate. In general, this option matches “false” or “mostly false” ratings on fact-checking websites.

NOTE: This content was curated by The Observer as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.