While South African motorists are reeling from ever-increasing fuel prices, many motorists in the world fare far worse at the pumps.
The average petrol price is dependent on many factors, such as global crude oil prices, taxes and/or margins established by fuel station owners. The value of one litre of petrol at the retail point of sale may change overnight, in some countries even by the hour.
The Picodi Team analysed how many litres of petrol you can purchase with the average wage in South Africa, as well as in other African countries.
Picodi said: "For this purpose, we researched the average fuel prices in the first half of 2019 and cross-referenced them with the latest average wages in respective countries. As our study shows, possessing a rich supply of natural resources does not always mean that petrol will be more accessible for an average consumer.
READ: The world's most expensive petrol prices In search of cheaper petrol: Use the arrows below
(Click/Tap on the arrows to see data - infographic: Picodi )
"In our region, the cheapest petrol can be found in Algeria — on average, for one litre of petrol you would have to pay 35 cents (converted from dinars). In contrast, filling the tank is the most expensive in Mauritius, where the average price for one litre is $1.33.
"In fact, the best ratio of petrol price to the average salary in Africa continent can be observed in South Africa. The average wages here is enough to buy 1 215 litres of liquid gold respectively."
South African is followed by Namibia (2nd place with 986 litres) and Algeria (3rd place with 777 litres).
Lower in the ranking are countries like Uganda, Cameroon and Zambia. In these countries, the average salary allows for buying no more than 200 litres of petrol, which is only one-fifth of the Africa ranking leader’s capacity.
Still, the most disadvantaged are people from Madagascar, who can buy only 42 litres of petrol with their average salary.
World’s petrol tycoons
( Hover your mouse over the countries for basic information - infographic: Picodi )
Methodology
This report uses the average net wages according to the latest available data provided by offices for national statistics or relevant ministries. The average prices for the first half of 2019 in more than 100 countries are based on data from globalpetrolprice and other local sources.
In order to obtain the number of litres, we divided the average wage by the average price of one litre of petrol. For currency conversion, we used the average exchange rate for the last 90 days.
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