New data from Discovery Insure shows that the average monthly petrol spend in South Africa has increased by up to R950 over the past year, as energy prices skyrocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group published data on its client base, recording a surge in spending from around R1,750 per month in 2025 to up to R2,700 per month in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This reflects an increase of up to 54% in over a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discovery noted that the surge in fuel prices has also led to other trends in its customers’ buying habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, drivers are filling up less, travelling fewer kilometres, and increasingly opting for smaller refills and planning them more closely to price adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“During months with large increases, purchases of less than 20 litres account for nearly 40% of transactions between the 25th and the end of the month, compared to around 20% normally,” Discovery said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Motorists are also visiting fuel stations more frequently ahead of the price increases, with average monthly visits rising from 2.4 to just over three.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, the increase in smaller purchases happens whether fuel prices are going up or down, which suggests that motorists are adjusting how they fill up in anticipation of price increases, rather than always rushing to fill up before an increase, the group noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“However, some motorists still end up panic buying before the higher prices take effect,” Discovery said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In October, for example, fuel purchasing volumes surged by 300% before midnight on Tuesday, 6 October. Diesel purchases were up 400%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
October saw petrol prices surge to over R30 per litre, with a R3.33-per-litre hike at the pumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was similar to the May increase, where purchases also surged by 300% and diesel by 450% and was much higher than the 200% seen during a typical price hike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
May saw petrol prices shoot up by R3.27 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The price hikes began in March 2026, following the United States’ launch of its war against Iran on 28 February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking at November, month-end recovery data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) indicated under-recoveries of around R1 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When factoring in the National Treasury’s announced fuel price relief for the month, this should swing the result into a small cut in prices this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources is expected to announce the official changes for November, ahead of implementation on Wednesday, 4 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discovery noted an interesting trend in its data: while motorists are changing how they buy fuel, everyday driving remains largely unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While trips dropped amid price hikes, daily commutes weren’t as affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April, trips fell by 10% and kilometres travelled by 9%. Even after excluding the Easter weekend, trips and distances travelled were still down 8%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By May, motorists were travelling 9% less than before the increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “However, these reductions proved difficult to sustain as driving returned to normal levels shortly afterwards,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From June to September 2026, trips and kilometres travelled were slightly higher than the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the October fuel price increase, trips fell by a further 6%, while kilometres travelled declined by 7%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discovery said that motorists have cut back on discretionary travel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This resulted in a 30% decline in long-distance trips during the winter months, while everyday commuting remained largely unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “These findings also align with those from SpendTrend26, which identified fuel as an essential expense linked to daily routines, such as commuting to work, school runs, and errands,” Discovery said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s a difference between buying less fuel and needing less fuel. Motorists can cut back on some discretionary trips, but getting to school and going about their daily lives isn\u2019t optional.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discovery said it’s apparent that, for many households, transport isn\u2019t an expense they can simply cut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New data from Discovery Insure shows that the average monthly petrol spend in South Africa has shot up by 54% in the past year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":876606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2117150726128345383","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2257966635023735","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18641432215050078","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[4883,13149,3994],"class_list":["post-882304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-discovery","tag-discovery-insure","tag-petrol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882326,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882304\/revisions\/882326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Month<\/th> Petrol 95<\/th> Diesel 0.005%<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> March<\/td> +R0.20<\/mark><\/td> +R0.65<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> April<\/td> +R3.06<\/mark><\/td> +R7.51<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> May<\/td> +R3.27<\/mark><\/td> +R5.27<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> June<\/td> +R1.43<\/mark><\/td> -R2.62<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> July<\/td> -R1.96<\/mark><\/td> -R3.59<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> August<\/td> -R0.52<\/mark><\/td> +R1.23<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> September<\/td> +R1.34<\/mark><\/td> +R3.15<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> October<\/td> +R3.33<\/mark><\/td> +R3.24<\/mark><\/td><\/tr> Total difference<\/strong><\/td> +R10.15<\/strong><\/td> +R14.84<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Goodbye to holiday travel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n