A recent study in Germany has shown that diesel and gasoline prices in Iceland are among the highest in the world.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) recently completed a survey indicating that residents of Iceland pay the highest prices in the world for their diesel fuel and the third highest price globally for gasoline.
With one liter of gasoline costing USD$1.86 in Iceland, only Turkey and Eritrea have higher prices. In the United States the same quantity of gasoline costs USD $0.63. In the UK one liter will put your wallet out of USD $1.63.
The director general of the Icelandic Automobile Association, Runólfur Ólafsson, says there are numerous reasons for the high price of gasoline in Iceland, but the main causes are the country’s small market and lack of competition. These factors are compounded by the government’s policies of heavy taxation.
The world’s cheapest gasoline and diesel prices are found in Turkmenistan. There, a liter of diesel costs only 1 US cent while gasoline costs 2.