Fuel Prices in Aruba: What You Pay at the Pump
Aruba, the small Dutch Caribbean island just off the Venezuelan coast, charges around $1.535 per liter for gasoline — that's roughly $5.81 per US gallon. In local terms, a liter runs about 2.75 AWG (Aruban florin). Diesel sits a touch lower at $1.427 per liter. Those numbers put Aruba almost exactly on the global trend line: the worldwide average is $1.484 per liter, and Aruba ranks 92nd of 170 countries surveyed — squarely mid-table, neither a bargain nor a punishingly expensive place to fill up.
Why Aruba's Prices Sit Where They Do
The single biggest fact shaping fuel costs here is that Aruba imports virtually all of its refined fuel. The island once hosted a major refinery at San Nicolas — historically processing Venezuelan crude — but it has spent much of the last decade idle or mothballed. With no reliable domestic refining, Aruba buys gasoline and diesel on the open market, so its retail prices track international product prices plus shipping to a remote island.
The Aruban florin is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate (1.79 AWG ≈ 1 USD), which removes the currency volatility you see in many emerging markets. That peg is why Aruba's prices, when converted to dollars, stay so stable and predictable compared with countries whose currencies swing against the greenback. What movement you do see at the pump comes from global oil prices and the government's pricing formula, not from exchange-rate chaos.
Taxes and regulated margins do the rest. Aruba sets maximum retail fuel prices through a government formula rather than leaving them purely to the market, building in import costs, distribution, dealer margins and excise. There is no heavy subsidy keeping prices artificially low — unlike oil-exporting Gulf states — but neither is the tax burden as punishing as in high-tax European markets like Malta. That balance is exactly why Aruba lands near the world average.
The Ten-Year Trend
Between July 2016 and June 2026, Aruba's gasoline averaged $1.235 per liter. The cheapest moment came on 18 May 2020 at just $0.81 per liter, during the COVID-19 collapse in oil demand that briefly gutted prices everywhere. The peak hit $1.877 per liter on 11 July 2022, at the height of the post-pandemic energy spike driven by the war in Ukraine and tight refining capacity.
Today's $1.535 sits well above the decade average but comfortably below that 2022 high — the picture of a market that surged, eased, and settled at an elevated-but-stable plateau. For an import-dependent island with a dollar-pegged currency, that's about as smooth a ride as you can expect.
How Aruba Compares
Aruba is pricier than nearby Dominican Republic, where regional supply chains and different tax structures often produce lower pump prices. It tends to undercut high-tax Asian markets such as South Korea, while landlocked, logistics-challenged countries like Mongolia face their own distinct cost pressures. To see exactly where the island sits, browse the full table of world fuel prices.
FAQ
Why is gas in Aruba priced in florins but quoted in dollars?
Aruba's currency, the Aruban florin (AWG), is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate of about 1.79 AWG to $1. A liter costs roughly 2.75 AWG, which converts to about $1.535. Because the peg is fixed, dollar-quoted prices stay very stable over time.
Is fuel cheap in Aruba?
Not especially. At about $1.535 per liter ($5.81 per gallon), Aruba ranks 92nd of 170 countries and sits just above the world average of $1.484 per liter. It is neither a subsidized bargain nor one of the world's most expensive markets.
Does Aruba produce its own fuel?
No. Despite once hosting a large refinery at San Nicolas, Aruba now imports nearly all of its refined gasoline and diesel. That import dependence, plus the cost of shipping to a small island, is a key reason pump prices track global product prices so closely.