Price of Czech annual highway stamps rises to CZK 2,300 next year

Details from the government’s austerity package show that the cost of driving a car will for the majority of the Czech public increase markedly from 2024, Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka confirmed this week.

Annual highway stamps – required by every passenger car that drives on Czech highways – will almost double, to CZK 2,300. The change is set to come into effect in early 2024. The price of highway stamps had been unchanged in the last 10 years. The increase in the stamps’ prices will in turn increase state revenue by over CZK 2 billion.

According to Kupka, the increases are necessary to continue the maintenance – and building – of roads and highway facilities; 186 kilometers of new highway sections are currently under construction, and more than 100 kilometers should be opened next year, he added.

The increase to CZK 2,300 means that highway stamps in Czechia will now be among the most expensive in Europe. In contrast, an annual highway stamp costs the equivalent of about CZK 963 in Switzerland and CZK 1,410 in Slovakia. The government’s original plan earlier this year had been to double the price of an annual stamp, but Kupka called this “intolerable.”

The cost of a monthly stamp will see a slight decrease, from CZK 440 to CZK 430. Ten-day stamps will also get slightly cheaper, and a further discount will be offered to hybrid or electric vehicles with carbon dioxide emissions of up to 50 grams per kilometer.

Kupka also noted that state rail carrier České dráhy (ČD) would also most likely bump up prices next year, following a 15-percent average increase in prices towards the end of last year. This, again, is to strengthen its services and provide higher-speed connections between the capital and other parts of the country. 

Updates to the EuroCity and InterCity ČD services will now ensure that more trains will have “a bistro car, Wi-Fi internet connection or sockets for recharging travel electronics,” ČD says.

Czechia’s Ministry of Transport has confirmed that it will use the increase in funds to ramp up investment in infrastructure. From 2028, the government plans to double investment in Czechia’s transport to CZK 300 billion every year.