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Nepal imported petroleum products worth Rs 332.27 billion in the last Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26, a whopping increase in the country's expenditure under the heading compared to the previous year.

According to the Department of Customs (DoC), the aforementioned expenditure was incurred for the purchase of petroleum products, including diesel, petrol, Liquefied Petroleum (LP) gas, aviation fuel, and kerosene. During the review period, the country's petroleum import bill rose by 15.5 percent (Rs 44.62 billion). In FY 2024/25, the figure stood at Rs 287.65 billion.

The expenditure on petroleum products accounted for 15.85 percent of Nepal's total imports worth Rs 2.096 trillion during the review period. Among the imported petroleum products, diesel accounted for the largest share at Rs 172.43 billion, followed by petrol at Rs 77.26 billion, LP gas at Rs 60.28 billion, aviation fuel at Rs 26.64 billion, and kerosene at Rs 677 million.

The DoC's annual foreign trade report shows that diesel, petrol, and LP gas were among Nepal's top five imported commodities. Combined, these three products alone cost the country Rs 309.97 billion during the fiscal year.

Diesel remained Nepal's single largest import item, with the import bill surging to Rs 172.43 billion from Rs 128 billion in FY 2024/25 - an increase of Rs 44.43 billion, or nearly 35 percent.

The rising petroleum import bill highlights Nepal's persistent reliance on imported fossil fuels despite significant growth in domestic hydropower generation and increasing electrification in sectors such as transportation and household energy use.

The report also shows that unprocessed soybean oil, with imports worth Rs 132.77 billion, ranked as the country's second-largest imported commodity during the FY.