The Most Expensive Gasoline in the World
Filling up a tank is a small, routine act almost everywhere on Earth, yet the price on the pump can differ by a factor of forty depending on where you happen to be standing. In a handful of countries and territories, a single litre of petrol costs more than a fast-food meal. Our ranking of 170 countries puts one place far above the rest: Hong Kong, where gasoline sells for about $4.073 per litre — nearly three times the world average of $1.484 per litre, and roughly forty times what drivers pay in the cheapest countries, where petrol can cost just a few cents.
The 12 most expensive countries for gasoline
The top of the table is a mix of dense, land-starved city economies and high-tax European welfare states:
1. Hong Kong — $4.073 · 2. Malawi — $3.234 · 3. Israel — $2.687 · 4. Denmark — $2.551 · 5. Netherlands — $2.545 · 6. Finland — $2.486 · 7. Singapore — $2.349 · 8. Uruguay — $2.339 · 9. Liechtenstein — $2.335 · 10. Switzerland — $2.326 · 11. Mayotte — $2.311 · 12. Monaco — $2.305.
Our full page extends this to the top 25, but the pattern is already clear by the twelfth entry. There is no single reason gasoline gets this expensive — instead, three distinct forces are at work, and sometimes they stack.
Why European fuel costs so much: taxes and VAT
Most of the countries in the top 12 are European, and their high prices are a deliberate policy choice rather than a quirk of geology. Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Monaco all layer heavy excise duties on top of value-added tax that can reach 25 percent. In the Netherlands, taxes and duties routinely make up more than half of the pump price; the underlying cost of the crude and refining is a minority share of what you actually pay. Denmark follows the same logic. These governments use fuel taxes to fund public services, discourage private-car use, and push drivers toward cycling, rail and electric vehicles. The result is that a barrel of oil bought at the same global price ends up costing far more at a Copenhagen forecourt than at one in the United States.
Land, cars and imports: the city-state premium
Hong Kong and Singapore sit at the top for a different reason. Neither has domestic oil production, so every drop of fuel is imported, but the real multiplier is the cost of owning and running a car in the first place. Both are among the most densely populated places on Earth, land is astronomically expensive, and government policy actively suppresses car ownership through duties, licence fees and, in Singapore, the Certificate of Entitlement that can cost more than the car itself. High fuel taxes are one more lever in that strategy. When you combine total import reliance with a policy of making driving deliberately expensive, you get Hong Kong's world-leading $4-plus per litre.
The outlier: why Malawi is second
Malawi at $3.234 breaks the pattern — it is neither a wealthy welfare state nor a dense city economy, but one of the poorest countries in the world. Its high price is a story of geography and logistics. Malawi is landlocked, produces no oil, and must truck every litre of fuel hundreds of kilometres inland from ports in Mozambique and Tanzania. Chronic foreign-currency shortages, a weak kwacha and periodic supply crises push costs higher still. For a Malawian earning a fraction of a European income, that $3.23 per litre is far more punishing than $2.55 is for a Dane.
How $4 a litre compares
To put the extremes in perspective: at the world average of $1.484 per litre, filling a 50-litre tank costs about $74. In Hong Kong the same tank runs past $200. And in the world's cheapest countries — oil-rich states and heavy subsidisers — petrol can cost only a few cents per litre, making that tank cheaper than a cup of coffee. The gap between the most and least expensive countries is one of the widest of any everyday commodity on the planet. If you want to see the other end of the scale, browse our ranking of the cheapest gasoline in the world, or explore live fuel prices for every country.
FAQ
Which country has the most expensive gas in the world?
Hong Kong has the most expensive gasoline in the world, at roughly $4.073 per litre — almost three times the global average of $1.484 and by far the highest of the 170 countries we track. Malawi ($3.234) and Israel ($2.687) round out the top three.
Why is gas so expensive in Hong Kong and the Netherlands?
They are expensive for different reasons. Hong Kong imports all of its fuel and deliberately makes car ownership costly through high duties and scarce, pricey land. The Netherlands, by contrast, is expensive because of steep excise duties plus VAT of up to 21 percent, which together make up more than half the pump price and are used to fund public services and cut car use.
What are the most expensive petrol countries in 2026?
The most expensive are Hong Kong, Malawi, Israel, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, Uruguay, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Mayotte and Monaco. High European prices are driven by fuel taxes and VAT, while Hong Kong and Singapore combine total import reliance with policies that suppress car ownership.