Fuel tax cuts expose deep divisions among Swedish parties

Swedish parties are divided over whether fuel taxes on petrol and diesel should remain low after temporary reductions, according to SVT’s election compass.

The Sweden Democrats, Christian Democrats and Moderates consider lower taxes on petrol and diesel a very good proposal. They say fuel costs are a major household expense and that many people depend on cars in their daily lives.

“High fuel taxes hit people in rural areas, commuting workers and companies with heavy transport particularly hard,” the Sweden Democrats wrote in their response. The issue is marked as especially important by the Christian Democrats and Sweden Democrats.

The Liberals and Social Democrats describe the proposal as fairly good. The Social Democrats said people must be able to afford to drive throughout Sweden and supported temporary fuel tax cuts in response to the war in Iran. The party also wants the state to procure biofuels through long-term contracts to push down prices.

The Centre Party and Left Party consider lower fuel taxes a fairly poor proposal. The Green Party calls it a very poor proposal, arguing that it worsens the climate crisis, deepens dependence on fossil fuels and benefits high-income earners more than low-income earners.

The Green Party instead wants targeted transport support, half-price public transport and extensive support for buying and leasing electric cars.

The issue of petrol and diesel prices rose high on the political agenda after the war in the Middle East and blockades of the Strait of Hormuz. During the spring, the government temporarily cut the taxes on petrol and diesel to the European Union’s minimum levels. Including value-added tax, this reduced the pump price by about one krona per litre for petrol and about 40 öre per litre for diesel.

The reduction applies from 1 May to 30 September. A further temporary cut took effect on 1 July and also runs until 30 September, reducing the tax on both petrol and diesel by three kronor per litre, including value-added tax.

Energy policy ranked fourth among voters’ most important issues in a Verian survey before the 2022 election. In the same survey conducted in August 2026, it ranked ninth.