Three countries that pay R1,000 less per tank of petrol than South Africa

It costs around R1,000 less to fill up a typical car’s tank in Iran, Libya, and Venezuela than it does in South Africa.

However, South Africans still pay roughly 5.6% less than the average price of petrol in over 150 countries.

MyBroadband used the latest fuel pricing from GlobalPetrolPrices.com to compare South Africa’s petrol prices to the rest of the world.

In general, richer countries tend to have higher fuel prices, while poor countries have lower prices.

The only major exception to this rule is the United States, which has significant oil production capacity and reserves and is economically affluent.

The typical petrol tank of a hatchback, small SUV, or sedan in South Africa has a capacity of 45 litres.

Tank sizes on sedans and mid-sized SUVs can be around 60 litres, while bakkies and large SUVs often come equipped with 80-litre tanks.

Two of the three countries that charge R1,000 less than South Africa for a 45-litre tank of petrol — Iran and Venezuela — are among the top 15 oil producers in the world.

Iran ranked as the world’s cheapest country for petrol with a price of just 53 cents per litre. It would cost about R23.72 to fill up a 45-litre tank in Iran, compared with R1,028.93 in South Africa.

While it has significant access to oil, Iran’s government is widely considered to be authoritarian, and around 60% of the country’s population lives under the relative poverty line, while 30% live under the absolute poverty line.

In South Africa, those figures are not far off, at 55.5% and 25%, respectively. Unfortunately, South Africa has none of its own oil reserves, and its local refining capacity has become more constrained.

Libya — a war-ravaged country that also has a lot of oil — was not far behind Iran, with a per-litre price of 57 cents. Filling up a 45-litre tank with its petrol would cost R25.70.

Venezuela, which appears to be on the brink of social turmoil after a controversial election won by autocrat Nicolás Maduro, has the third-lowest price at R28.98 per 45-litre tank.

Such prices are necessary to ensure the country’s population can get by, with Venezuela’s economic growth faltering in the last few years.

On the other side of the list is the most expensive area for petrol — Hong Kong — a highly urbanised and affluent administrative region of China.

With its unleaded 98 petrol priced at R60.09 per litre, it would cost R2,703.87 to fill up a 45-litre tank.

However, that might only be necessary to do regularly for a minority of the population, as the country has an extensive and advanced public rail network.

The table below compares the costs of filling a 45-litre, 60-litre, and 80-litre petrol tank in South Africa with those of 30 other countries.

Country	Price per litre	45-litre tank	60-litre tank	80-litre tank
Iran	R0.53	R23.72	R31.62	R42.16
Libya	R0.57	R25.70	R34.26	R45.68
Venezuela	R0.64	R28.98	R38.64	R51.52
Angola	R6.33	R284.81	R379.74	R506.32
Nigeria	R8.53	R383.63	R511.50	R682.00
Russia	R12.28	R552.69	R736.92	R982.56
United Arab Emirates	R14.44	R649.58	R866.10	R1,154.80
United States of America	R18.47	R830.93	R1,107.90	R1,477.20
Brazil	R20.09	R904.10	R1,205.46	R1,607.28
Australia	R20.74	R933.21	R1,244.28	R1,659.04
Argentina	R20.95	R942.93	R1,257.24	R1,676.32
Botswana	R21.50	R967.41	R1,289.99	R1,719.84
Lesotho	R21.60	R971.82	R1,295.76	R1,727.68
Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)	R21.65	R974.34	R1,299.12	R1,732.16
China	R21.76	R979.11	R1,305.48	R1,740.64
Tanzania	R21.89	R984.92	R1,313.22	R1,750.96
India	R22.19	R998.73	R1,331.64	R1,775.52
Zambia	R22.21	R942.93	R1,257.24	R1,676.32
Namibia	R22.25	R1,001.12	R1,334.82	R1,779.76
Democratic Republic of Congo	R22.31	R1,003.95	R1,338.60	R1,784.80
South Africa	R22.87	R1,028.93	R1,371.90	R1,829.20
Mozambique	R24.85	R1,118.34	R1,491.12	R1,988.16
Canada	R24.87	R1,118.97	R1,491.96	R1,988.16
Kenya	R26.45	R1,190.12	R1,586.82	R2,115.76
Zimbabwe	R29.27	R1,317.24	R1,756.32	R2,341.76
New Zealand	R31.58	R1,420.88	R1,894.50	R2,526.00
United Kingdom	R34.15	R1,536.57	R2,048.76	R2,731.68
Germany	R34.79	R1,565.33	R2,087.10	R2,782.80
France	R35.60	R1,602.09	R2,136.12	R2,848.16
Netherlands	R39.81	R1,791.27	R2,388.36	R3,184.48
Hong Kong	R60.09	R2,703.87	R3,605.16	R4,806.88
Average across 150+ countries	R24.21	R1,089.45	R1,452.60	R1,936.80

South Africa is one of many countries that relies heavily on oil and petroleum imports.

While most countries have access to the same international prices for these resources, retail pricing can vary substantially because they have different taxes and additional costs for transport, storage, and logistics.

During his Opening of Parliament on 24 July 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the formula for calculating fuel prices in South Africa would be reviewed to identify areas where it could be reduced.

This comes after years of calls from organisations like the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) to relook the petrol pricing structure.

Fuel prices in South Africa currently comprise four main elements:

• The basic fuel price, including freight and insurance costs, cargo dues, storage, and financing
• Wholesale and retail margins and distribution and transport costs
• The General Fuel Levy (GLF)
• The Road Accident Fund (RAF) Levy

Experts believe government is unlikely to reduce the GLF or RAF levies, with the former in particular being a large source of general tax revenue.

One proposal for bringing down prices is to de-regulate the retail pricing of petrol, which is currently adjusted to fixed amounts by the Department of Energy every month.

While free market advocates argue that this prevents competition between stations that could lower prices, others warn that the mechanism protects consumers against exorbitant prices.

The Democratic Alliance’s Fuel Price Deregulation Bill estimated that retail prices could be reduced by as much as R9 per litre if companies were allowed to import cheaper fuel and wholesalers could distribute this to petrol stations, which could compete on price.

The Department of Energy gazetted draft legislation in July 2022 proposing that a price cap be imposed on unleaded 93 petrol and that fuel retailers be allowed to charge lower than that price, potentially resulting in price competition.

While the period for public comment was just 30 days, the department has yet to provide an update on the status of the proposal.

The Fuel Retailers Association has maintained motorists should not expect major price savings if the price of unleaded 93 petrol was deregulated, as petrol stations operate with small profit margins and would only be able to afford small discounts.