U.S. drivers in this study have the lowest fuel costs in the world

Owning a car comes with a bunch of unexpected expenses, but most people understand that fuel costs are a big part of the process. Britain’s Xcite Car Leasing recently analyzed fuel costs compiled by GlobalPetrolPrices.com, which showed that drivers in the U.S. pay the least in fuel costs worldwide.

That is, the U.S. is cheapest at least among the nations included in the study. Because Xcite is a British firm, it was most interested in comparing the United Kingdom to the U.S. and the rest of Europe. Note that not even, say, Canada is on this list. But it’s a good reminder that the United States, which among other things is the world’s biggest petroleum producer, is better off than many/most places, if not all.

The United States joins Turkey and Bulgaria as the three countries in the survey with the cheapest global fuel prices. The data looked at gas, diesel and electricity prices in May 2023, and even measured availability of public EV chargers.

The top 10 countries with the cheapest gas prices:

United States
Turkey
Bulgaria
Romania
Hungary
Spain
Sweden
Austria
Portugal
Poland
Czech Republic
Belgium
Germany

The United States’ gas prices were only slightly cheaper than Turkey’s, at 97 cents per liter — which comes out to $3.67 a gallon. (And in fact, the U.S. average price in that calculation is actually higher than the average calculated by AAA for that week in May, which was $3.53.)

The U.S. average for diesel was $1.05 per liter ($3.97/gallon). Turkey landed at $1.26 per liter. Both have solid electricity prices, but they are behind other countries’ EV charging infrastructure to a notable degree. The United States has just 0.05 chargers per square mile compared to the Netherlands, which has 9.02.

Italy was ranked as the most expensive country in the study for fuel, thanks in part to its high electricity costs and sparse EV infrastructure. Xcite noted that the country’s fuel costs are not the most expensive, an honor that Denmark earned, but Italy’s poor scores in electricity costs and other areas helped it grab the “top” spot.

The Xcite study was conducted with an eye on the European market. There, diesel costs are expected to climb significantly over the next two decades. Countries like Sweden and Turkey could see diesel fuel prices increase by as much as 80 percent over the next 30 years.

Diesel prices are one thing, but gas (petrol) prices are another. Switzerland is expected to have the highest gas prices by 2050. Turkey and the U.S. remain at the bottom of the list, but all countries in the study showed significant gains in gas prices over 30 years.

Just looking as far out as 2030, the data indicate Americans will be paying an average of £0.89/liter ($3.37/gallon), still the cheapest by far. While on the more expensive end of the range, drivers in Denmark and Sweden could be paying over £2/liter — that’s $9.60/gallon.