A Look At Gas Prices Across The Globe

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

The Economist has put together the above chart showing global gas prices as of February 2012, as well as how fast they’ve risen in the past 12 months. Even with gas approaching $4 overall, we’re not doing too badly compared to the rest of the world.

While the French still have to cope with $10/gallon gasoline, their prices have increased the least, while Italians have seen fuel costs go up 18 percent. Italy ranks behind Norway and the Netherlands for the priciest fuel, while the US is still sitting at about $3.53 a gallon on average. Australia, land of the V8 super sedan, pays $5.82 a gallon. No wonder the Mazda3 has overthrown the Holden Commodore as Australia’s best selling car.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Orenwolf Orenwolf on Mar 26, 2012

    Ok, so here's a question for Derek. The Honda Civic has been the best-selling car in Canada for like a decade, Mazda 3 the #3. Yet we have the second-cheapest gas on that chart. How does that statistic affect your analysis of the situation with Australia?

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    • Spike_in_Brisbane Spike_in_Brisbane on Mar 26, 2012

      @EChid Here in Oz there are more things to consider than the price of petrol. Someone earlier mentioned the low population density in the US which would not support good public transport systems. Well, Australia's population density is about 15X less. Also, our very long goat tracks often referred to as highways, provide harsh punishment for weakly built, small cars and have for decades provided good reason for the Falcons and Holdens, strong cars which would probably cost too much and last too long for US tastes. There are also a lot of unsealed roads hence a lot of Landcruisers and no Sequoias.

  • Grzydj Grzydj on Mar 26, 2012

    Stupid chart of the year award goes to Derek Kreindler for this flagrant misrepresentation of prices. What is more relevant is the price Europeans pay for before and after taxes. You'd be surprised to learn that most European countries actually pay less per gallon than Americans do per gallon... before taxes are added.

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    • Grzydj Grzydj on Mar 26, 2012

      @nrcote It's misleading because it doesn't explain why Europeans as a whole pay more for their fuel than Americans do. Aside from some countries were fuel is heavily subsidized, prices are going up all around the world.

  • Skor Skor on Mar 26, 2012

    I have quite a few relatives that live in Europe. Yes, many commute on a daily basis by car. There are two important differences: 1)The commutes tend on average to be shorter than American commutes. 2) The average European car is MUCH smaller than the average US car. I know people who work in Manhattan and drive everyday from the Poconos in Pennsylvania....in other words, they drive clear across the state of New Jersey every day to get to work...100+ miles. Such commutes are unheard of in Europe.

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    • Occam Occam on Mar 27, 2012

      @bikegoesbaa "The single biggest problem for US commutes is the misalignment of housing and work sites. We have expansive, upper-middle class suburban housing with nary a upper-middle class job nearby. Why? There’s no reason such jobs need to be in central business district. And honestly, there’s no reason that telecommuting can’t be implemented in more places." Wouldn't building office complexes in the suburbs/outskirts of urban areas just convince people to move even FURTHER out into the exurbs, as it would be clear that "the city is moving in?" I agree on the telecommuting, but these jobs frequently have lower-middle class clerical workers, blue collar working class laborers doing maintenance and janitorial work. Moving the business districts away from the CBD just makes a different group of commuters bite the bullet... those who can least afford it, may not even own cars, etc.

  • Ddr7 Ddr7 on Mar 26, 2012

    Here is something to think about: http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/2012/02/27/how-high-have-gas-prices-risen-over-the-years/ After reading this I understand that $4 gas is not so bad, also, much of high gas prices is in our heads, look at this. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-02/gas-prices-is-the-pain-real

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