Gasoline is an essential part of the modern world, helping to power industry and move just about everything, including people, products, and raw materials. Wars and crises have been centered around oil over the years. The 1973 oil embargo crisis, for example, caused gas shortages in the U.S. and worldwide and oil prices to skyrocket, disrupting the global economy.Â
The recent hack of the Colonial Pipeline that caused shortages in the U.S. East Coast reminded us that shortages aren’t necessarily a thing of the past — even if the U.S. has become less reliant on foregin oil in the decades since.Â
And just like the price of gas differs from one U.S. state to the next, the price of gasoline can differ dramatically from country to country around the globe. In some oil-rich nations, such as Saudi Arabia, governments subsidize fuel. In other nations, oil can be hard to access, or it is heavily taxed, or expensive due to geopolitical conflicts.Â
To identify the countries with the most expensive gas, 24/7 Wall St. relied on gas prices per liter obtained on Aug. 24, 2021 from Numbeo — an online database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide. We used data for 109 countries with sufficient numbers of contributors and then converted to price per gallon. Numbeo aggregates data for countries in real time so it may change faster than government data sets. Population figures came from the World Bank and are for 2020.Â
By far, most of the countries on this list are European, including all Nordic nations, which rank among the top 15. Island nations Japan and New Zealand also rank on the list. South America and Africa are among the least represented on the list, while no country from North America made the list. The U.S. does not rank on the list, having the 86th highest gas price among the 109 countries considered.
While substantial effort is underway to move to more sustainable power sources, our world is still very much dependent on gasoline. For a range of hybrids and EVs, check out the most eco-friendly cars on the market.
Rising fuel prices also substantially affect prices across the economy. Nearly every good is transported using gasoline, from raw materials to end products. In 2020, the U.S. industrial sector accounted for 36% of total U.S. end-use energy consumption, according to the Energy Information Administration. So when the price of oil goes up, it causes other prices to also increase.Â
While supply wars between oil-rich nations and the COVID-19 pandemic last year contributed to a sharp decline in oil prices, prices have since recovered. The pandemic has further exasperated supply chains and caused many prices to fluctuate. Check out 20 groceries driving up your food bill the most during the pandemic.
Click here to see countries with the most expensive gas this summer
Source: tifonimages / Getty Images
50. Chile
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.13
> Population: 19,116,209
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Source: xavierarnau / Getty Images
49. Morocco
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.24
> Population: 36,910,558
Source: Instants / Getty Images
48. India
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.43
> Population: 1,380,004,385
Source: mbrand85 / Getty Images
47. Jordan
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.47
> Population: 10,203,140
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Source: sfabisuk / Getty Images
46. Bulgaria
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.69
> Population: 6,927,288
Source: cemagraphics / Getty Images
45. Kosovo
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.81
> Population: 1,775,378
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Source: QQ7 / iStock via Getty Images
44. North Macedonia
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.81
> Population: 2,083,380
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Source: RossHelen / Getty Images
43. Romania
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.88
> Population: 19,286,123
Source: Mlenny / Getty Images
42. South Korea
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.88
> Population: 51,780,579
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Source: yongyuan / Getty Images
41. Japan
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.92
> Population: 125,836,021
Source: Xantana / Getty Images
40. Poland
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.92
> Population: 37,950,802
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Source: Greg Sullavan / Getty Images
39. Bosnia And Herzegovina
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.92
> Population: 3,280,815
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
38. Uruguay
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.92
> Population: 3,473,727
Source: Tamer_Desouky / Getty Images
37. Zimbabwe
> Avg price per gallon this August: $4.92
> Population: 14,862,927
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Source: TomasSereda / Getty Images
36. Hungary
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.07
> Population: 9,749,763
Source: tibu / Getty Images
35. Luxembourg
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.11
> Population: 632,275
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Source: vikau / Getty Images
34. Lithuania
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.22
> Population: 2,794,700
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Source: nejdetduzen / Getty Images
33. Cyprus
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.26
> Population: 1,207,361
Source: nantonov / Getty Images
32. Czech Republic
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.34
> Population: 10,698,896
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Source: Mustang_79 / Getty Images
31. Austria
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.34
> Population: 8,917,205
Source: Remedios / Getty Images
30. Slovenia
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.53
> Population: 2,100,126
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Source: KavalenkavaVolha / Getty Images
29. Latvia
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.56
> Population: 1,901,548
Source: Robert CHG / Getty Images
28. New Zealand
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.60
> Population: 5,084,300
Source: Gatsi / Getty Images
27. Spain
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.68
> Population: 47,351,567
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26. Montenegro
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.72
> Population: 621,718
Source: QQ7 / Getty Images
25. Slovakia
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.79
> Population: 5,458,827
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Source: vladimir_n / Getty Images
24. Serbia
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.87
> Population: 6,908,224
Source: rusm / Getty Images
23. Croatia
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.94
> Population: 4,047,200
Source: KavalenkavaVolha / Getty Images
22. Estonia
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.98
> Population: 1,331,057
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Source: master2 / Getty Images
21. Albania
> Avg price per gallon this August: $5.98
> Population: 2,837,743
Source: Jui-Chi Chan / Getty Images
20. Singapore
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.21
> Population: 5,685,807
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Source: danilovi / Getty Images
19. Malta
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.21
> Population: 525,285
Source: orpheus26 / Getty Images
18. Belgium
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.25
> Population: 11,555,997
Source: bluejayphoto / Getty Images
17. Germany
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.28
> Population: 83,240,525
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Source: benstevens / Getty Images
16. Ireland
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.28
> Population: 4,994,724
Source: scanrail / Getty Images
15. Denmark
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.51
> Population: 5,831,404
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Source: manjik / Getty Images
14. France
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.51
> Population: 67,391,582
Source: IakovKalinin / Getty Images
13. United Kingdom
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.55
> Population: 67,215,293
Source: scanrail / Getty Images
12. Sweden
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.66
> Population: 10,353,442
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Source: Boyloso / Getty Images
11. Iceland
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.70
> Population: 366,425
Source: AleksandarGeorgiev / Getty Images
10. Switzerland
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.74
> Population: 8,636,896
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Source: Eva-Katalin / Getty Images
9. Italy
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.78
> Population: 59,554,023
Source: cookelma / Getty Images
8. Norway
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.78
> Population: 5,379,475
Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
7. Portugal
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.81
> Population: 10,305,564
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Source: scanrail / Getty Images
6. Finland
> Avg price per gallon this August: $6.89
> Population: 5,530,719
Source: RobertBreitpaul / Getty Images
5. Greece
> Avg price per gallon this August: $7.04
> Population: 10,715,549
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Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
4. Israel
> Avg price per gallon this August: $7.19
> Population: 9,216,900
3. Palestine
> Avg price per gallon this August: $7.31
> Population: 4,803,269
Source: Olena_Znak / Getty Images
2. Netherlands
> Avg price per gallon this August: $7.34
> Population: 17,441,139
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Source: pat138241 / Getty Images
1. Hong Kong
> Avg price per gallon this August: $8.86
> Population: 7,481,800
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