Tipping Research: How much tip is given in European taxis?

Every day we at taxi2airport receive the questions: Should I tip? And if so, how much should I tip tip? As we operate in so many countries, the answer is different for each country. Therefore we carried out research in 37 European countries to chart the ‘tipping behavior’ of Europeans. Per country, at least 60 taxi drivers were asked to keep track of the tips given in the period from February 2018 to September 2018.

In total, tens of thousands of trips were analyzed. From this analysis, a selection was made of similar taxi rides (based on distances to and from the airport) and an equal number of trips per country.

Height of taxi tips in 37 European countries

In euros – Of all the countries surveyed, the British gave the highest tip in the taxi. On average € 7.95 tip (converted) is given in the British taxis. Finns (7.36 euros), Swiss (7.10 euros) and Swedes (7 euros) also give, on average, a high tip to their taxi drivers.

Taxi drivers in Macedonia are least fortunate when it comes to tips from all the countries surveyed. The average tip is the lowest in Macedonia with 99 euro cents. Also in Russia (1.10 euro), Georgia (1.10 euro), Bosnia & Herzegovina (1.25 euro) and Serbia (1.47 euro), taxi drivers get relatively low tips that fluctuate around a euro.

In percentages – When the tips are weighed against the fare, Spanish taxi drivers get the highest percentages (11.44 percent of the fare). Russian drivers, with an average of about 2 percent, receive the lowest tip percentage of all European countries surveyed.

The Netherlands, with the third highest percentage of 10.17 percent, is also well-regarded as a ‘tip paradise’ for taxi drivers.

Research accountability

Taxi2Airport carried out the research in the following countries: United Kingdom, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal, Norway, Hungary, Luxembourg, Turkey, Estonia, Iceland, Greece, Malta, Ireland, Bulgaria, Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Belarus, Italy, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Russia, Macedonia.

60 taxi drivers per country were asked to keep track of the tips given in the period February 2018 through September 2018. In total, tens of thousands of taxi rides to and from the airport were analyzed.