Gas Prices Around the World

In most capitalist societies, the balancing act between the forces of supply and demand determines the prices of most goods, unless a government decides to intervene to influence the economy’s direction. Unfortunately, not all economies are endowed with equal natural and human resources. Regional differences in available inputs lead countries to produce different products depending on what is most efficient or necessitates the lowest opportunity costs. That is why prices vary between economies. However, there are instances internal or external factors may cause prices to vary between economies with similar access to resources.

Highest Gasoline Prices in the World

Hong Kong has the world's highest gasoline prices. There are many factors affecting this, including lack of land area, import fees, taxes, etc. As Hong Kong exists on a very small land area that could be easily clogged with automobile traffic, the government encourages its citizens to use public transit as their primary form of transportation. The restrictive government policies towards automobiles lead to very high gas prices. Luckily, Hong Kong has one of the world's best public transportation systems.

Norway is a developed country and a leader in advocating for green energy. Because of this, the country imposes hefty fines on non-renewable energy sources such as oil, making gasoline prices high.

Gas prices are high in the Netherlands, at $7.04 a gallon. Like many other places in Europe, gasoline in the Netherlands is subject to high taxation which results in a higher price.

Lowest Gasoline Prices in the World

Gasoline prices are lowest in Libya, at $0.42 a gallon. Although the country has suffered from unrest over the better part of a decade, Libya is working on restoring their ability to export oil around the world. In the meantime, the country's oil fields are conveniently nearby, meaning that oil prices in the country are the lowest in the world.

In Turkmenistan, a gallon of gasoline only costs $1.14. While this does have to do with the country's PPP, the government of Turkmenistan also heavily subsidizes the cost of fuel.

Gas prices in the North African country of Algeria are also very low, at $1.17. This is due to the overall lowering in value of gallons of gas, which has also had drastic negative impacts on the economy of Algeria as a whole.