Gasoline Prices Around the World: The Real Cost of Filling Up

Global gasoline prices rose 2.2% on average during the second quarter of 2020 compared with the previous quarter. The increase reflects a stabilization of prices following their 17% plunge in the first quarter of the year, when the price of oil tumbled to its lowest level in more than 17 years. But behind those numbers comes a range of price swings experienced differently by every nation. We ranked 61 countries by three economic measures to see which has the most affordable gas and which feels the most pain at the pump.

per
in
  • Gas Price
  • Affordability
  • Income Spent
Methodology

The gas price ranking visualizes gasoline data from 61 countries. The information is sorted by average fuel price and by affordability, the percentage of a day’s wages needed to buy a unit of gas. Also shown is the percentage of personal income spent each year filling up.

Gas prices are provided by GlobalPetrolPrices.com and are for 95-octane from the final week in each quarter listed, except for Q1 2018, which are from April 16, 2018. Local gas prices were converted into listed currencies using end-of-day exchange rates on the same day. Visualization data were compiled by Bloomberg, IMF, UN, and World Bank.

Income figures are GDP per capita in local currency for the year selected, while income in other currencies is calculated using the same method as with gas price conversions. Venezuela’s local-currency income figure for 2019 uses the IMF’s figure for 2018. All countries’ income figures for 2020 are from 2019, as the IMF has not issued 2020 forecasts due to uncertain economic data resulting from Covid-19. Figures for gas consumption are based on UN data for motor gasoline by road in 2017, the latest year available. Figures for Venezuela are calculated using the approximate black-market exchange rate for the bolivar, via dolartoday. The exchange rate for Iran is taken from the UN’s Operational Rates of Exchange.

The earliest available price for Nigeria was the third quarter of 2015. This price was used for all prior quarters. The only available price for Iran was the second quarter of 2015. This price was used for all quarters listed. Lithuania adopted the euro on January 1, 2015. Prices for Lithuania in 2014 are shown in euro equivalent.

Figures for prior quarters use data reported at the time of publication and do not reflect any subsequent revisions.

Country descriptions are drawn from the CIA Factbook, government energy agencies and Bloomberg reporting.

Credits: Tom Randall, Alex McIntyre and Jeremy Scott Diamond