Which country taxes petrol the most?
Switzerland taxes road petrol the most of the 77 countries in the OECD dataset, at €26.9 per gigajoule in 2023. Finland is second at €25.9 per gigajoule and Italy is third at €24.8 per gigajoule. Fifteen countries tax petrol at €20 per gigajoule or more, and 13 of them are in Europe. The Netherlands sits at €22.5 per gigajoule.
At the other end of the scale, four countries, including Malaysia and Nigeria, put no tax on road petrol in 2023, and Brazil's rate was €0.6 per gigajoule. The median country taxed petrol at €12.2 per gigajoule, less than half the Swiss rate. The gap between the highest and lowest rates means that a fuel tax holiday matters far more in Switzerland or Finland than it would in Brazil.
Why do European countries tax fuel so much higher than others?
European governments have long used fuel excise duties both to raise revenue and to discourage fossil fuel use. In Italy, excise duties on fuel guaranteed over 26 billion euros in revenue in 2025, equal to about 4 percent of tax revenues, making a structural reduction difficult.2 Italy's government modified its excise duty structure in January 2026, increasing those on diesel and reducing those on gasoline to align them, a move described as fitting into energy transition policies that discourage more polluting fuels.2
Temporary cuts are possible but costly. Italy introduced a temporary reduction from March 19 to May 1, bringing gasoline and diesel excise duties down to about 0.47 euros per liter, and the first cut alone cost about 420 million euros in a few weeks.2 Balancing sustainability, equity and budgetary needs remains one of the most complex challenges for European governments, and a permanent cut would have a significant impact on public accounts.2
Who pays the most tax on fuel?
Among the 77 countries in the OECD's 2023 data, drivers in Switzerland face the highest fuel tax rate at €26.9 per gigajoule, followed by Finland at €25.9 and Italy at €24.8. All 13 European countries in the top 15 apply rates of €20 per gigajoule or more, meaning European motorists as a group carry the heaviest fuel tax burden measured in euros per unit of energy.
In Italy, at the start of 2026, the Netherlands led European per-liter excise duties at 0.84 euros per liter of gasoline, followed by France at 0.69 euros and Italy at 0.67 euros.2 Italy and France also led for diesel at 0.67 euros per liter, followed by Ireland at 0.62 euros.2 These rates sit well above those in countries such as Brazil, where the 2023 rate was just €0.6 per gigajoule, and the four countries that applied no tax at all.
How much of US gas prices is tax?
The United States appears in the OECD dataset with an empty value, so no 2023 rate is available for comparison in this chart. Georgia's suspended motor fuel tax is 33.3 cents per gallon of gasoline and 37.3 cents per gallon of diesel.1 Georgia's average price for regular gasoline was about $3.65 per gallon on Oct 26, compared with a national average of about $4.29, putting Georgia roughly 64 cents below the national average.1
VAT and sales taxes are not included in the OECD rates used in this chart, so the full tax burden on a liter or gallon is higher in every country that applies them.