Running a car is expensive; especially if you’re making monthly car finance payments and have a bad credit history, are self-employed or a young driver.
As such, we researched which countries it’d be cheapest to fill a full tank of fuel in, taking the fuel capacity of the UK’s most popular car, the Ford Fiesta, and found which countries pay the least for their petrol.
Here in the UK, fuel costs around £1.22 per litre, which works out at £51.24 for a full tank, but how does this compare to other countries around the world?
Most Expensive Countries to Fill Up:
| Country | £ per Litre | Cost of Full Tank (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | £1.47 | £61.74 |
| Iceland | £1.44 | £61.74 |
| Greece | £1.40 | £58.80 |
| Norway | £1.40 | £58.80 |
| Israel | £1.38 | £57.96 |
With a couple of exceptions, fuel generally tends to be more expensive in affluent countries such as Iceland (£60.48 per tank) and Norway (£58.80).
It’s the Netherlands that comes out top for the most expensive full tank of petrol at £61.74, which is a whole £37.80 more expensive than the cheapest tank of petrol, from the USA.
The Cheapest Countries to Fill Up:
| Country | £ per Litre | Cost of Full Tank (£) |
|---|---|---|
| USA | £0.57 | £23.94 |
| Australia | £0.70 | £29.40 |
| Canada | £0.76 | £31.92 |
| Mexico | £0.83 | £34.86 |
| Chile | £0.86 | £36.12 |
Rather surprisingly, the USA comfortably has the lowest cost of petrol out of any OECD country, despite high costs being associated with booming economies.
In the States, a litre of fuel will cost you just 57p, which works out at £23.94 for a tank, which is over half as much as in the UK.
The Cost to Fill a Tank around the World Ranked:
Methodology:
Taking the petrol prices (£ per litre) of each OECD country, and the fuel capacity of a common Ford Fiesta, we were able to find out the price of filling a car in each country.
Example:
United Kingdom price per litre of petrol: £1.22
Ford Fiesta petrol tank capacity: 42 litres
42 * 1.22 = £51.24
Sources:
Ford Fiesta Trend:
https://www.ford.co.uk/content/dam/guxeu/uk/documents/feature-pdfs/FT-All_New_Fiesta.pdf
Fuel Prices:
https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/
Exchange Rates:
10/03/2020
GBP to Eur = 1.15
GBP to USD = 1.3
