Cornwall Among UK’s Hardest Hit as Petrol Costs Rise

Cornwall is one of the UK counties where petrol is taking the biggest bite out of weekly pay, according to new research from Ovoko.

Using data from FuelMap on 9th March 2026, the study compared unleaded petrol prices across every county in the UK with median weekly pay from the Office for National Statistics to work out where a standard 50-litre fill costs drivers the largest share of their wages.

Cornwall ranked joint fifth in the study. The research found the county’s average petrol price was 140.2p per litre, meaning a 50-litre fill would cost £70.10. Based on the South West’s median weekly wage of £734, that works out at 9.6% of weekly pay.

Counties where petrol takes the biggest share of wages

Cornwall in a nine-way tie

Cornwall was part of a nine-county tie in fifth place, alongside Northamptonshire, South Glamorgan, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Rutland, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire.

Across those nine counties, the percentage of weekly pay needed for a 50-litre tank was the same at 9.6%, even though pump prices varied. In Cornwall, drivers were among those paying more at the pump, with only Shropshire higher in that tied group at 140.4p per litre.

The release said: “Pump prices across the nine range from 136.8p in North Yorkshire to 140.4p in Shropshire, nearly four pence apart, but regional wages iron things out and a full tank for any of the nine costs between £68.40 and £70.20.”

Cornwall’s figures

Shetland tops the table

At the top of the ranking was Shetland, where unleaded petrol averaged 157.6p per litre. A 50-litre fill there cost £78.80, equal to 10.2% of Scotland’s median weekly wage of £776.

No other county came close to that level.

Northumberland ranked second, with petrol at 138.1p per litre and a 50-litre fill costing £69.05, or 10% of the North East’s median weekly wage of £692.

County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Clwyd were all next on 9.8%.

How the South West compares

The South West as a region ranked joint fourth overall in the regional table.

Ovoko’s figures put the South West average petrol price at 138.39p per litre. That meant a 50-litre fill cost £69.19, which equalled 9.4% of the region’s median weekly pay of £734.

That left the South West below the North East, East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, Wales and the West Midlands in the regional rankings, but above the North West, Scotland, East of England, South East and London.

Within the South West, Cornwall was higher than Devon, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Bristol, and slightly above Dorset and Somerset in terms of the share of weekly wages needed for a 50-litre tank.

London least affected

At the other end of the table, Greater London was found to be the least affected part of the UK.

There, a 50-litre fill at 138.0p per litre cost £69.00, which was 7.6% of the capital’s median weekly wage of £903.

Central London followed at 7.7%, while East Sussex and Oxfordshire were both on 8.4%.

The release said: “Greater London, predictably enough, comes out as the least burdened county in the study. A 50-litre fill at 138.0p per litre sets a driver back £69.00, but with London’s median weekly wage sitting at £903 that amounts to just 7.6% of earnings. The raw pump price is not even cheap by national standards. It is the wage that does the work.”

What Ovoko said

Kazimieras Urbonas, Supplier Excellence Manager at Ovoko, said: “The gap between a Shetland driver and a London driver is more than two and a half percentage points of weekly pay. That is a big difference for what is, at the end of the day, the same tank of fuel.

“The real squeeze, Urbonas reckons, falls on the North East and the East Midlands. Wages are lower there and the car is not optional for most commuters. With prices continuing to climb, it is worth looking at every option to keep running costs down, from checking tyre pressures and driving habits to shopping around for parts when the service comes due rather than going straight to a main dealer.”

The research shows that while Cornwall does not have the UK’s highest petrol price, the cost of filling up still takes a sizeable share of weekly earnings compared with much of the country.