8 out of 10 litres of fuel in Luxembourg sold to non-residents

Every year, Luxembourg's petrol stations sell hundreds of millions of litres of fuel, a phenomenon largely due to the relatively low taxation of the product compared to neighbouring countries. As a result, there are significant price differences with said countries, sometimes as much as thirty cents per litre, pushing motorists from neighbouring countries and those just passing through to refuel in Luxembourg, hence the phrase "tank tourism".

For the government, however, it is both a significant source of income due to the taxes, and simultaneously an environmental problem since these sales are included in the country's ecological measures. Thus, the low consumption of renewable energy in Luxembourg (6.3% in 2017) is partly explained by the many litres of fuel sold in the country to non-residents.

In a September publication by Statec on climate change, the share of tank tourism was calculated in total fuel sales. In 2016, it estimated 77.1% of fuel sales went to non-residents, which corresponds to almost eight litres out of ten.