South Africa is one of the most expensive places in the world to keep your petrol tank full

Bloomberg has updated its global fuel price index to April 2017, showing that South Africa is no longer the country that spends the highest proportion of the average salary on petrol – but is still one of the most expensive places to keep tanks full.

The Bloomberg index compares fuel prices in 61 countries across the world, in terms of price, affordability and overall spend.

Affordability is measured as the cost of a litre of petrol relative to a country’s average daily wage, while overall spend represents how the average driver spends on petrol in a year, relative to the average salary.

According to the 2016 index, South Africa ranked stone last, as the country that spends the highest proportion of the average salary on petrol in a year – however, as of April 2017, Mexico has claimed the crown, where 3.9% of the average annual Mexican salary is spent on petrol.

South Africans spend 3.2% of the average annual salary keeping tanks full – this is compared to the number-one country, Venezuela, where a mere 0.02% of the average annual salary is spend on petrol.

In terms of affordability, South Africa also does not fare well, with 6.02% of the average daily income of R221 being used to buy 1 litre of petrol. This puts South Africa 55th, globally, or 7th worst on the list.

Here, India ranks bottom of the pile, with 1 litre of petrol taking up a massive 21.3% of the daily average wage in that country, while Venezuela, again, comes out top.

Venezuela’s super low fuel price is due the resource being considered a national birthright. However, the price was hiked by 6,000% in 2016. As of April 2017, a litre of petrol in Venezuela costs 3 cents.

Most expensive petrol

On a per-litre basis, South Africa has the 20th cheapest petrol in the world – down from 16th cheapest in 2016.

The energy department announced last week that May 2017 fuel prices will be increasing by 49 cents per litre.

Petrol prices as a % of daily wage

This category refers to the portion of daily wages that would be needed to buy a litre of petrol.

South Africa’s position has improved from 2016, where 6.25% of the average daily wage would cover 1 litre of petrol.

Petrol prices as a % of annual income

This refers to the portion of annual income spent on fuel purchases.

South Africa’s position is improved from 2016’s ranking, where we spent 3.71% of the average annual salary on petrol.

According to Bloomberg, the average South African motorist uses 195.61 litres of petrol a year.