Barbados has the most expensive gasoline in the Caribbean and Latin America and the 11th most expensive in the world, according to globalpetrolprices.com.
The leading provider of data on global fuel prices noted that as of July 4, 2022, Barbadians were paying an average of US$2.34 for gasoline, which is higher than places such as the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland and Sweden.
Among other Caribbean countries, Jamaica has the second highest prices at US$1.74 per litre, followed by the Bahamas at US$1.71, the Cayman Islands at US$1.66 and St Lucia at US$1.46 per litre.
According to the data, the price of gasoline in the oil-producing Trinidad and Tobago averages US$0.99 per litre, in Suriname it is US$1.10 per litre and in Guyana it is US$1.30.
Venezuela is said to have the cheapest gasoline price at an average of just US$0.022 per litre, followed by Libya (US$0.31), Iran (US$0.053) and Syria (US$0.286).
The cost of crude oil, which retailed at over US$110 a barrel, is the largest component of the retail price of gasoline. Taxes, subsidies, cost of refining and transporting, among other measures, are included in retail prices.
Officials said “The differences in prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for gasoline. All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes. As a result, the retail price of gasoline is different.”
Globalpetrolprices.com said the average price of gasoline around the world as of July 4 was US$1.46 per litre.
“However, there is substantial difference in these prices among countries. As a general rule, richer countries have higher prices while poorer countries and the countries that produce and export oil have significantly lower prices. One notable exception is the US, which is an economically advanced country but has low gas prices,” it pointed out.
The top ten countries with the most expensive gas prices per litre in descending order are listed as Hong Kong, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Central African Republic, Israel and Monaco.
In relation to the price of diesel, the data-tracking website listed Barbados as the most expensive in the Caribbean and Latin America but the 31st most expensive in the world at US$2.022 per litre.
The least expensive for diesel in the Caribbean is Trinidad and Tobago at US$0.576 per litre.
As of July 4, 2022, the average cost of diesel globally was listed at US$1.42 per litre.
In relation to electricity prices as of December 2021, the world average price was US$0.139 per kWh for household users and US$0.132 per kWh for business users.
For Barbados, the average electricity price for household was listed as US$0.306 per kWh for that period, the ninth most expensive out of 100 countries, behind Bermuda, Denmark, the Cayman Islands, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Spain and Belgium.
In relation to businesses, however, Barbados was said to have the fifth most expensive cost at US$0.292 per kWh, behind Burkina Faso, Germany, the Cayman Islands and Cyprus.
“The prices for households are calculated using the average annual household electricity consumption per year and for businesses, we use 1,000,000 kWh consumption per year. We do, however, calculate several data points at different levels of consumption for both households and businesses.”
