Energy

Diesel prices in South Africa vs the UK, Ireland, USA and other countries

Luke Fraser

 ·25 Sep 2023

Diesel prices may not be the highest in South Africa compared to the rest of the world, but they take up a larger percentage of one’s income.

South African motorists were hit with a massive increase in the price of diesel at the start of this month, with prices hiked by between R2.76 and R2.84 a litre.

To make matters worse, mid-month data from the Central Energy Fund already shows that diesel prices are set to skyrocket by between R1.93 and R2.03 per litre in October, bringing more even pain to cash-strapped motorists.

Moreover, the increase in diesel prices also affects the prices of other goods in the economy, particularly food.

With load shedding reaching record levels over the last 12 months, many producers and retailers have resorted to using diesel-powered generators to meet their energy needs.

For instance, South Africa’s biggest retailer, Shoprite, spent over R1.3 billion on diesel during the year ended 2 July 2023 to help minimise the effects of load shedding.

With the pain of diesel prices weighing heavily on South African consumers, we have decided to compare the price per litre of diesel in South Africa compared to the rest of the world.

According to data from Globalpetolprices.com, South Africa has the 69th highest diesel price in the world, with it costing R25.161 per litre.

The most expensive in the world is Hong Kong, where it costs close to R55 for a litre of petrol.

“As a general rule, richer countries have higher prices, while poorer countries and the countries that produce and export oil have significantly lower prices,” the website said.

Below is a breakdown of the most expensive countries to buy petrol:

Proportional spend

That said, countries that may have higher costs for diesel usually pay a smaller part of their yearly earnings compared to South Afrca

Below is a table of the average annual earnings in OECD countries in dollars after tax (2022), converted to rands, and split across 365 days for the daily average:

South Africa is not part of the OECD, so we have taken data from the latest BanskServAfrica Take-Home Pay Index, which has South Africans earning R15,503 a month – or R550.90.

Looking at the data, South Africans pay the largest part of their salaries for a litre of diesel, with 5% of one’s daily earnings needed to buy a litre of diesel.

This is followed by Mexico, where 3.72% of one’s daily income is needed to buy a litre of diesel.

On the other end of the scale, South Koreans and Americans only pay a mere 0.88% and 0.89% of their daily salaries on diesel.

Read: Petrol and diesel price warning for South Africa