Gas Prices Around the World — US, UK, Canada & Australia Compared

Diesel is the fuel under pressure on three continents — and crude is not what is driving it

The headline picture

The 2026 Iran conflict — which closed the Strait of Hormuz on 28 February and removed a large share of the world’s seaborne oil — has lifted retail fuel prices in every major importing economy, but to different degrees and on different fuels. On Day 231 the strait remains CRITICAL: President Trump rejected Iran’s seven-day reopening plan on 26 September and a renewed proposal around 1 October, at least thirteen vessels were struck between 1 and 13 October, the Saudi–Houthi exchange widened on 13 October with a confirmed fire at an Aramco building in Dhahran, and Windward counted 119 transits in the week of 23–30 September against about 130 a day before the war.

Three patterns hold across the four markets at the top of this page. First, diesel is up more than petrol, because distillate stocks are the tightest part of the global barrel. Second, tax policy explains most of the gap between countries: the UK and Australia carry high fixed excise, Canada has suspended its federal excise, and the US levies relatively little tax. Third, there is no physical shortage in any of the four: GEF’s shortage map shows price stress in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, not rationing or dry pumps.

State and provincial breakdowns

National averages mask substantial within-country variation. State and provincial differences are driven mainly by local taxes, environmental regulations, refining capacity and pipeline access — not by crude price.

United States — by state extremes (AAA regular, state averages 11 October; national $4.36)

Canada — by province (Kalibrate weekly, regular, 22 September)

Kalibrate’s weekly national average for 22 September was 191¢, higher than CAA’s daily national figure (177.5¢ on 11 October); the two use different station samples. Other provinces were not published in a dated source GEF could verify this week.

Australia — by city (ACCC, week to 7 October)

United Kingdom — by retailer type

UK regional variation is small because the UK is a single tax jurisdiction: fuel duty is 52.95p a litre until 31 December 2026 (GOV.UK), rising to 55.95p on 1 January 2027 and 57.95p on 1 March 2027, plus 20% VAT. The larger gap is between retailers: on 28 September the government’s Fuel Finder feed (via a third-party index) showed supermarkets at 172.0p petrol and 196.5p diesel against 176.0p and 200.9p at BP, Shell and Esso. Northern Ireland usually runs a few pence apart from Great Britain because of its separate supply chain; no dated comparison was published this week.

Why fuel prices differ by country

Crude oil is priced on a global market and reaches every refinery at roughly the same dollar cost, adjusted for shipping and grade. What makes pump prices differ — from about $1.18 a litre in the US to 173.6p a litre in the UK — is four downstream factors: taxes, refining, currency and policy.

1. Fuel taxes (the largest single factor)

Tax explains most of the gap between the Anglosphere markets. UK fuel duty is 52.95p a litre until 31 December 2026, with 20% VAT charged on top of the duty-inclusive price, so on a 173.6p litre of petrol roughly 82p, or about 47%, is tax. US drivers pay the federal 18.4 cents a gallon plus state taxes that average roughly 30 cents — about 13 cents a litre in total, a small fraction of the UK level. Canada’s federal excise (normally 10¢/L on gasoline) is suspended until 31 January 2027, and the consumer carbon charge was removed in April 2025, so Canadian prices now carry mainly provincial fuel taxes and sales tax. Australia’s federal excise returned to about 53.7¢/L when the temporary relief ended on 2 August 2026.

2. Refining capacity and geography

Countries with large refining industries can flex output to local demand. The US refines more than it consumes, which is why its gasoline price has risen less than Europe’s — but even the US is short of diesel this autumn, because refiners tilted yields toward jet fuel earlier in the crisis. Australia refines well under a fifth of its needs and imports the rest from Singapore, South Korea and Japan, whose refineries run largely on Middle Eastern crude; that is why Australian diesel follows the Asian product market so closely. The UK imports most of its jet fuel and a large share of its diesel.

3. Currency effects

Oil and refined products trade in US dollars, so a weaker local currency raises the pump price in that currency even when the dollar price is unchanged. This is one reason Canadian and Australian prices look high in local terms. GEF shows prices in local currency, as published, rather than converting them at an exchange rate that may be out of date.

4. Policy interventions

Governments have used different tools. Canada has suspended its federal fuel excise until 31 January 2027; Australia cut and then restored its excise between April and August; the UK has held fuel duty at 52.95p until the end of 2026; and the US has drawn its Strategic Petroleum Reserve down to its lowest level since 1982 rather than cutting fuel tax. France is the cautionary case: a private retailer’s price cap below the market has produced station shortages. Tax cuts and reserve releases lower the price; they do not add product, which is why diesel remains tight everywhere.

Wider comparison — major importing markets

Prices are shown in local currency as published, with the date each figure refers to. European figures are from the EU Weekly Oil Bulletin for 28 September (via fuel-prices.eu, since the Commission’s own archive lags; country detail is from the 21 September issue).

Tax changes to watch

How the 2026 Iran conflict changed each market

The Strait of Hormuz closure on 28 February 2026 has lifted retail fuel prices in every importing economy, but the transmission differs by market, and by September the pressure had moved from crude to refined products.

United States — gasoline elevated, diesel at records, no rationing

The AAA regular average rose from $2.98 before the war to a $4.55 peak on 21 May, fell to a $3.79 low on 7 July, climbed through the late-summer escalations to $4.48 on 28 September, then eased to $4.333 on 13 October after the G7 release. Diesel has gone further: past $6.00 for the first time on 11 September and a record $6.5276 on 22 September, easing to $6.33 by 16 October, as distillate stocks sit about 12% below their five-year average. There is no rationing; the stress is price. See the US gas-price and SPR forecast.

United Kingdom — diesel at the edge of £2, supply stable

UK petrol and diesel are available everywhere and no airport has issued a fuel NOTAM, but diesel passed £2 a litre for the first time (200.01p on 2 October against 199.09p in June 2022) before easing to 199.9p on 9 October, with petrol at 174.79p (RAC). The UK’s larger structural exposure is jet fuel, about 90% imported; European jet averaged $207.57 a barrel in the week to 18 September. See the UK fuel forecast.

Canada — prices up by a third on the year, excise holiday extended

Canadian retail supply has been stable throughout — no rationing, no station outages. The CAA national average was 177.5¢ a litre on 11 October, down from 180.9¢ on 28 September, and diesel near C$2.76 (27 September, not re-verified). Ottawa has extended the federal excise holiday to 31 January 2027. The aviation effect persists: Air Canada has cut about 14 transborder and international routes on fuel cost and suspended Cuba flights indefinitely.

Australia — diesel surging again, no rationing

Australian prices spiked to an end-March peak, eased through the autumn, and climbed again after the excise relief ended on 2 August. In the week to 7 October five-city petrol averaged 239.0¢ and diesel 281.0¢, up 3.0¢ and down 2.3¢ in a week; diesel is 104.4¢ above its pre-conflict level. Stocks are above pre-conflict levels and there is no rationing. See the Australia forecast.

European Union — high prices, one national shortage, a borderline gas refill

EU pump prices are among the highest in the world and fell in the week to 5 October, by about 10 cents a litre on average, after rising through September. The one physical shortage is in France, where a TotalEnergies price cap below the market has left 10% of stations short of at least one fuel on 11 October (about 15% on 5 October). Gas is the slower-moving risk: EU storage was 74.22% on 13 October (GEF direct GIE read), borderline for the relaxed 80% target by 1 November. See the EU status page.

Where prices are cheapest — and most expensive — in the world

The cheapest pump prices in the world are in heavily subsidised oil producers, where governments set retail prices far below market cost. On GlobalPetrolPrices’ most recent prints GEF could verify (21 September; page caches for these countries are older) Libya had the cheapest petrol and Venezuela the cheapest diesel, both at a few US cents a litre; among functioning, non-distorted markets Algeria is near the bottom at about $0.35 a litre for petrol (5 October print). These prices reflect subsidy policy, not the cost of fuel, and Libya’s cheap official price sits beside two-kilometre queues and a black market (Reuters, 17 September).

At the other end, Hong Kong has the most expensive market-priced petrol in the world, at about HK$34.62 a litre, USD 4.41 (GlobalPetrolPrices, 5 October print), a result of duty designed to discourage car ownership in a dense city. Among large EU markets the Netherlands is the most expensive at €2.432 a litre for petrol (EU Oil Bulletin, 5 October), well ahead of Germany at €2.196.