Gas prices around the world The average price for a gallon of gas in the United States is above $4.75 (and in some areas, like California, upwards of $6.18). While those prices are exhausting many drivers’ budgets, they are something of a relief from previous weeks—on average, prices were about 10 cents higher a week ago.
Even as Americans in many parts of the country fork over $5 or more per gallon to fill their tanks, you might be surprised to learn that drivers in other parts of the world would probably race to the nearest Shell station to take advantage of the prices people pay here. Relatively speaking, they are in fact low. As of July 4, the average price of a gallon of gasoline worldwide is $5.52, according to data from GlobalPetrolPrices.com, which tracks retail energy prices in 150 countries and 250 cities around the world.
So even as Americans may wince when they see how much it costs to fill up their SUVs, most are still likely paying below the international average for gas. Here are the 10 countries where prices are currently the highest:
Hong Kong – $11.45 (per gallon)
Iceland – $9.77
Norway – $9.75
Finland – $9.51
Denmark – $9.47
Greece – $9.44
Netherlands – $9.18
Central African Republic – $9.05
Israel – $8.96
Monaco – $8.93
The absolute cheapest gas in the world can be found in Venezuela, Libya, and Iran, per the data, where gasoline costs 8 cents, 12 cents, and 20 cents per gallon, respectively.
As for why some countries have such cheap gas? Venezuela contains vast oil reserves, for one, and the government heavily subsidizes fuel costs for its mostly low-income population, for another. And Venezuelan gas prices aren’t exactly stable, either. In 2020, for example, prices spiked to more than $7.50 per gallon, according to Reuters.
Gas prices in the United States are determined by a blend of variables, including the price of crude oil, taxes, and costs related to refining and distribution. The relatively high prices Americans are currently paying mostly have to do with constrained refinery capacity—some oil companies closed refineries when the pandemic cratered demand and have not yet bumped capacity back up. Capacity is currently at its lowest level since 2014, with five refineries sitting idle, according to data from the Energy Information Administration released last month.
The bit of relief that American drivers have seen at the pump over the past week or two is largely due to falling oil prices, which have tumbled from more than $120 per barrel to less than $100 within the past month. But that doesn’t mean that drivers should expect gas prices to continue to fall, unfortunately.
“Domestic gasoline demand dipped recently, which took some of the pressure off of pump prices,” said Andrew Gross, a spokesperson for AAA, in a statement. “But July is typically the heaviest month for demand as more Americans hit the road, so this trend of easing prices could be short-lived.”