Gasoline Index 2021: who can fill up the most amount of gasoline for the average wage?

This is an archived report. The latest ranking is available here.

Picodi.com analysis team examined the change in gasoline prices in the first half of 2021 compared to the previous year and counted how many gallons of gasoline Americans can buy for the average wage.

Increase of prices on gasoline stations

The first half of 2021 was characterised by the gradual defrosting of the economy and an increase in gasoline prices compared to the first half of 2020. In the Americas, the highest price spikes were noted in Argentina (+49.2%), Panama (+25.6%), and El Salvador (+25.1%).

The United States noted a 23.5% increase in prices, ranking 5^th among American countries. Gasoline prices also increased in countries like Canada (+23.8%), Mexico (+13.2%), and Brazil (+23.3%).

The opposite trend was noted only in Ecuador and Colombia, where the average year to year gasoline prices slightly decreased.
Gasoline Index 2021
In the Americas, Venezuelans fill up gasoline the cheapest – in this country, 1 gallon of gasoline costs $0.007. Uruguay has the highest prices at $5.12 per 1 gallon. In the United States, the average gasoline price in the first half of 2021 was $3.11, which means it placed 7^th out of 22 considered countries.

This year, we checked again how many gallons of gasoline can be bought for the average wage in various American countries.

For the third year in a row, the undefeated leader of the ranking is the United States with 1,248 gallons of gasoline. Canada placed second (691 gallons), and Puerto Rico completes the podium with 598 gallons.

In the United States, according to the BLS latest data, the average gross salary amounts to $56,310 ($3,885.55 net a month). It means that an average American can buy 1,248 gallons of gasoline for the average monthly wage (1^st place). In the previous year, Americans could buy 1,510 gallons of gasoline for the average wage.

Lower in the ranking were countries such as Colombia (142 gallons and 9^th place), Mexico (138 gallons and 10^th place), or Brazil (115 gallons and 14^th place).

Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba took the last three places with 67, 60, and 7 gallons respectively.

The world leaders

Among 104 researched countries, the lowest gasoline price was noted in Algeria (US$0.34 per gallon), and the highest price – in Hong Kong (US$2.44 per gallon).

In the global purchasing power ranking, the Gulf countries are consistently on the podium:

1. Qatar – 1,726 gallons;
2. Saudi Arabia – 1,366 gallons;
3. Kuwait – 1,363 gallons.

Brits can buy 399 gallons of gasoline for the average wage, Germans – 472 gallons, Russians – 248, and Chinese – 252 gallons.

The worst situation was noted in Cuba. In this country, 7 gallons of gasoline can be bought for the average wage (0.4 gallons less than in the previous year). Only a little better were Tajikistan and Zambia, with 44 and 57 gallons.

It is also worth looking at Venezuela. This country struggles with an unstable economic situation, yet maintained last year’s limits on gasoline purchases. Each citizen can buy 31.7 gallons of gasoline for about US$0.007 per gallon. Once the limit is exceeded, the price of gasoline increases to US$1.89 per gallon. According to our calculations, the average wage in this country allows you to buy 61 gallons of gasoline (31.7 gallons of subsidised and 29.2 gallons in full price) which is 22 gallons more than last year.

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Methodology

Gasoline Index is an annual ranking of gasoline prices to wages ratio, conducted by Picodi since 2019.

This report uses the average net wages according to the latest available data provided by offices for national statistics or relevant ministries. In some countries, where official wage statistics are not available, we used information from Numbeo.

The average prices for the first half of 2021 in 104 countries are based on data from globalgasolineprices.com and other local sources. In order to obtain the number of gallons, we divided the average wage by the average price of 1 gallon of gasoline. For currency conversion, we used the Google Finance average exchange rate for the last 90 days.

Public Use

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