Several African countries continue to rank among the world’s cheapest destinations for petrol, driven largely by fuel subsidies, government price controls, domestic refining capacity, and access to crude oil reserves.
As of January 2026, Libya maintains a commanding lead as the continent’s cheapest fuel market, with prices far below global averages, while Angola and Algeria complete the top three, according to data from Global Petrol Prices.
The figures reflect average national retail petrol prices across African countries and were last updated on January 26, 2026. Prices are quoted in US dollars per litre and converted into local currencies at prevailing exchange rates.
The rankings are compiled using data from Global Petrol Prices, a widely referenced database that tracks national average retail energy prices in more than 150 countries and over 250 cities worldwide. The platform updates its data weekly and covers petrol, diesel, electricity, and natural gas. While the data provides a useful benchmark, actual pump prices may vary by city, supplier, and distribution costs within each country.
Below are the top 10 African countries with the cheapest petrol prices per litre as of January 2026:
Fuel in Liberia is priced at about $0.854 per litre, equivalent to roughly 158.38 Liberian dollars. The country relies almost entirely on imported refined petroleum products, making domestic fuel prices highly sensitive to movements in global oil markets as well as fluctuations in the exchange rate.
Government efforts to stabilise the Liberian dollar and manage supply have helped prevent even sharper price increases.
Despite these efforts, fuel prices rose significantly in 2025. Over a six-month period, gasoline prices increased by about 22%, reaching roughly 830 Liberian dollars per gallon by July, largely due to supply constraints and currency depreciation.
In response, the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), in collaboration with the government, introduced ceiling prices to contain the rapid rise in pump prices, although these caps were later adjusted as market pressures persisted.
By mid-2025, gasoline prices had climbed to around LRD 830 ($4.18) per gallon, while fuel oil (diesel) rose to approximately LRD 890 ($4.46) per gallon. These increases were driven primarily by the weakness of the local currency—trading at around 200 Liberian dollars to one US dollar—as well as the country’s limited pool of private fuel importers, which constrains competition and amplifies supply-side shocks.
As a result, while Liberia remains within Africa’s lower-priced fuel markets on a per-litre basis, domestic prices continue to reflect the country’s vulnerability to exchange rate volatility and external supply disruptions.
