Booked car rental rates fell 5% across Car Rental Gateway’s European sample in summer 2026, but that headline hides a divided market. Rates fell sharply in Ireland, Cyprus and the United Kingdom, while Poland and Hungary moved in the other direction.

Ireland recorded the largest decline among the countries with published year-on-year results, with its median daily booked rate down 16.1% from summer 2025. Cyprus followed with a 13.2% decrease, while the United Kingdom was down 12.7%.

The same downward pattern appeared elsewhere. Germany fell 8.1%, France declined 7.8%, Portugal and Switzerland were each down 7.6%, and Spain fell 7%.

Poland and Hungary broke from that pattern. Booked rates rose 15.6% in Poland and 26.7% in Hungary.

“A 5% decline can sound as if Europe moved in one direction, but that is not what happened,” said Hannes Põldvee, product and sales manager at Car Rental Gateway. “The country results moved in opposite directions. Local fleet availability, competition, vehicle mix and seasonal booking patterns may help explain the differences, but the bookings do not prove what caused them.”

The study measured rates in confirmed bookings, not demand, revenue, fleet size, or final customer spending. It shows where booked prices moved within the sample, while leaving the reasons open.

Comparing the Same Rental

Car rental prices can vary greatly depending on the vehicle and booking length. To reduce those differences, the country comparisons used the same reference rental in every market: a mini, economy, or compact car booked for four to 14 days. This was the most common rental type in the study and represented 52% of bookings.

“Comparing the same vehicle group and rental length gives a fairer view than putting all bookings into one raw average,” Põldvee said. “If customers in one market book larger cars or different rental lengths, the booking mix can change the result before any other factor is considered.”

For that reference rental, the median daily booked rate across 41 markets was €28.91. The median total for a booking lasting exactly seven days was €195. That weekly figure came directly from confirmed seven-day bookings and was not calculated by multiplying €28.91 by seven.

The accompanying map shows the spread in summer 2026 rate levels. Malta had the lowest median daily rate for the reference rental at €12.84, while the Faroe Islands had the highest at €111.49. The colors show summer 2026 rate bands, not whether a country’s rates rose or fell from 2025.

Vehicle and Transmission Differences

A separate comparison covering all rental lengths found a median daily booked rate of €28.74 for mini or economy cars. For vans or vehicles with seven or more seats, the median was €71.35. These figures use a different booking base from the country comparison, so they should not be compared directly with the €28.91 reference rate.

The price gap between automatic and manual cars also varied widely by market. Within the small-car, four-to-14-day reference rental, the median booked rate for an automatic was 48% higher than for a manual in Greece.

The difference was 35% in Ireland and 34% in the United Kingdom. By comparison, it was only 3% in Poland and 4% in Spain. Among the markets compared, Iceland was the exception: the median automatic rate was 10% lower than the manual rate.