How does SA’s fuel price rank with the rest of the world?
Have you ever wondered how South Africa’s fuel price ranks with the fuel prices of the rest of the world? Thanks to the stats from cars.co.za, we can tell you.
The petrol price has just dropped by over 60 cents making South Africans very happy – but R13, 66 per litre is still quite expensive. What is worse is when you come to the realisation that the South African petrol price has risen to over R14 from R4,31 per litre in 2004. Although we know we pay a lot for fuel, how much do we actually pay? We can only know if we compare it to what other countries pay (in a relative manner of course).
In a study published in June this year, Bloomberg looked at the petrol price around the world, and the affordability relative to the average earnings of 61 countries. Here is what we learn from that study:
South Africa – 42nd
We’re in the top third of world petrol prices, just ahead of Australia (R14.73) and Brazil (R14.96). But we rank terribly on the affordability scale, at 10th in the world (meaning we are the 10th ”unaffordable” country). That means the average South African needs to spend over 7% of a day’s wages to buy one litre of fuel, compared to the US, where the average earner only needs to part with 0.65% of a day’s wages.
Most expensive: Norway
At R27.37 per litre, Norwegians make use of their accesible public transport. However, it might be important to note that the country doesn’t subsidise fuel at the pumps, instead it uses the profits to provide free university education etc. Norway also has zero national debt, due mainly to oil profits.
Least expensive: Venezuela
Who wants to visit Venezuela? I know I do just to feel what it’s like to pay 11 cents per litre of petrol – less than I would pay for water. To put it in to perspective, filling a car with a 40 litre tank would cost just R4,40…
Cold and expensive :The UK
Thank goodness Britain has an excellent public transport system, because at R23.06, it is one of the world’s most expensive countries in which to buy fuel. However, although the UK is not far behind Germany in terms of price, in terms of affordability, the UK is very closely matched to South Africa.
Far East :Japan
Japan makes things a bit easier on motorists. At R16.33 per litre, Japan runs one of the cleanest car fleets in the world, penalising owners with a green tax that increases every year that your car ages.
Surprising: USA
Yes, the land of the free actually has a way higher income rate, yet their petrol price is an unexpected R10, 32.
List of petrol prices of some countries (per litre in rand). For the full list of petrol prices, visit Bloomberg’s graphic.
Venezuela – R0.11
Saudi Arabia – R1.26
Kuwait – R2.26
Egypt – R2.28
Iran – R4.25
UAE – R4.95
Nigeria – R6.23
Malaysia – R6.77
Russia – R8.92
Mexico – R10.01
USA – R10.32
Indonesia – R10.43
Pakistan – R11.41
Columbia – R11.74
Thailand – R12.74
Philippines – R12.52
Canada – R12.58
China – R13.22
India – R13.39
South Africa – R13.89