Research from Picodi.com has revealed that the average South African salary, which currently stands at R21,564, can purchase roughly 968 litres of petrol at an average price of R22.27 per litre, around 103 litres more than at the same time last year.
Out of the 98 countries on review in the Picodi Petrol Index, which compares the affordability of fuel around the world calculated as the price of a litre of petrol measured against the average salary, South Africa ranks 33rd.
First is Kuwait, where the average salary can purchase 7,222 litres of petrol, and last is Cuba, where a full paycheck only gets you 27 litres of petrol.
Amongst the nine African countries on review – comprising Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia – we on the southernmost tip have the highest affordability rating.
“The lowest petrol prices can be found in Tunisia ($0.82/litre), Egypt ($0.37/litre), and Algeria ($0.34/litre),” said Picodi.
“On the other hand, the highest petrol prices have to be paid by drivers from Mauritius ($1.62/litre), Zambia ($1.46/litre), and Kenya ($1.32/litre).”
South Africans earn a higher salary, on average, than the citizens of many of these nations, and as such, the other African countries rank 41st, 76th, 94th, 85th, 83rd, 95th, 79th, and 92nd on the Petrol Index, respectively.
Other major nations around the world have it a bit nicer than we do, though.
In the United States, the biggest economy on the globe, the average salary gets a motorist 4,172 litres per month thus ranking fifth on the index.
In Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer in the world, it jumps to an even higher 4,246 litres, grabbing the middle-Eastern country fourth place.
Despite Russia also being a major oil producer, the average citizen of the eastern-European state can only afford 1,191 litres per paycheck, putting it 31st on the Petrol Index – only two clicks above South Africa.
China, the most populous country in the world and the second-largest economy, actually ranks lower than we do at 36th place, as most of its citizens can only buy 893 litres of petrol with their salaries.
Driver’s paradise
Click on any country in the below infogram to see the affordability of petrol in this region:
The full list of where all the countries in Picodi’s Petrol Index rank can be found below:
Global Petrol Affordability Index 2023
| Rank | Country | Litres of petrol purchased with the average salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuwait | 7,222 |
| 2 | Qatar | 6,839 |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 4,611 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 4,246 |
| 5 | United States | 4,172 |
| 6 | Australia | 3,669 |
| 7 | Oman | 3,648 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 3,025 |
| 9 | Luxembourg | 2,413 |
| 10 | Canada | 2,170 |
| 11 | South Korea | 2,132 |
| 12 | Denmark | 2,033 |
| 13 | New Zealand | 1,960 |
| 14 | Ireland | 1,951 |
| 15 | Malaysia | 1,805 |
| 16 | Norway | 1,715 |
| 17 | Puerto Rico | 1,696 |
| 18 | Japan | 1,570 |
| 19 | Iceland | 1,562 |
| 20 | Austria | 1,543 |
| 21 | Sweden | 1,499 |
| 22 | Germany | 1,480 |
| 23 | United Kingdom | 1,477 |
| 24 | Netherlands | 1,470 |
| 25 | Belgium | 1,440 |
| 26 | Cyprus | 1,416 |
| =27 | France | 1,369 |
| =27 | Taiwan | 1,369 |
| 29 | Finland | 1,362 |
| 30 | Kazakhstan | 1,246 |
| 31 | Russia | 1,191 |
| 32 | Spain | 1,042 |
| 33 | South Africa | 968 |
| 34 | Iraq | 945 |
| 35 | Czechia | 900 |
| 36 | China | 893 |
| 37 | Estonia | 846 |
| =38 | Ecuador | 822 |
| =38 | Lithuania | 822 |
| 40 | Poland | 805 |
| =41 | Algeria | 792 |
| =41 | Iran | 792 |
| 43 | Croatia | 738 |
| 44 | Italy | 734 |
| 45 | Panama | 723 |
| 46 | Bolivia | 722 |
| 47 | Romania | 686 |
| 48 | Latvia | 683 |
| =49 | Hungary | 678 |
| =49 | Belarus | 678 |
| 51 | Slovakia | 636 |
| 52 | Costa Rica | 627 |
| 53 | Portugal | 609 |
| 54 | Bulgaria | 579 |
| 55 | Uruguay | 557 |
| 56 | Chile | 540 |
| 57 | Montenegro | 521 |
| 58 | Georgia | 511 |
| 59 | Greece | 500 |
| 60 | Mexico | 499 |
| 61 | Brazil | 490 |
| 62 | Bosnia and Herzegnovia | 480 |
| =63 | Honduras | 476 |
| =63 | Serbia | 476 |
| 65 | Vietnam | 475 |
| 66 | India | 453 |
| 67 | North Macedonia | 447 |
| =68 | Armenia | 438 |
| =68 | Thailand | 438 |
| 70 | Turkey | 428 |
| 71 | Colombia | 420 |
| 72 | Guatemala | 415 |
| 73 | Argentina | 412 |
| 74 | Azerbaijan | 407 |
| 75 | Kyrgyzstan | 406 |
| 76 | Egypt | 396 |
| =77 | Jordan | 388 |
| =77 | Moldova | 388 |
| 79 | Tunisia | 363 |
| 80 | Peru | 362 |
| 81 | El Salvador | 354 |
| 82 | Uzbekistan | 328 |
| 83 | Mauritius | 320 |
| 84 | Paraguay | 314 |
| 85 | Kenya | 302 |
| 86 | Albania | 298 |
| 87 | Phillippines | 287 |
| 88 | Dominican Republic | 282 |
| 89 | Cambodia | 242 |
| 90 | Ukraine | 241 |
| 91 | Indonesia | 232 |
| 92 | Zambia | 225 |
| 93 | Nicaragua | 216 |
| 94 | Ghana | 187 |
| 95 | Nigeria | 172 |
| 96 | Pakistan | 166 |
| 97 | Sri Lanka | 157 |
| 98 | Cuba | 27 |
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