Among the 10 countries that consume the most gasoline in the world, Mexico is the one that currently pays the highest price per liter, mainly due to its fuel tax burden, according to an analysis by specialist Ramsés Pech.
In Mexico, the average price of regular gasoline is 23.37 pesos (US $1.30) per liter, meaning that Mexicans pay an average of 10.28 pesos (US $0.57) in taxes per liter — the highest tax burden among the world’s 10 largest fuel consumers.
Two taxes are levied on each liter of gasoline sold in Mexico: the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS). As of December 2025, the IEPS tax was 6.46 pesos (US $0.36) per liter of regular or Magna gasoline, plus a 16% VAT.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, the average price of regular gasoline is 20.13 pesos (US $1.12); in Japan it is 18.16 pesos (US $1.01); in India it is 17.62 pesos (US $0.98); in Canada it is 16.72 pesos (US $0.93), and in China and the United States it is 14.74 (US $0.82) and 13.66 (US $0.76) pesos, respectively.
These are national average prices for December, based on data from the data platform Trading Economics.
The country where the least taxes are paid for gasoline is Saudi Arabia, where a liter costs 11.14 pesos (US $0.62), of which only 1.67 pesos (US $0.09) are taxes. This means that in Mexico, motorists pay almost five times more taxes than in Saudi Arabia.
Some countries have decided to eliminate a provisional tax to lower the price of gasoline, Pech said. Such is the case of Japan, which decided to eliminate a provisional tax that had been in place since 1974, by about 3 pesos (US $0.17) per liter starting in 2026. He added that gas prices in the United States will remain low as a measure to control inflation, while China could reduce gasoline prices by acquiring crude oil at significant discounts, especially from Russia.
Mexico, on the other hand, increased the IEPS rates in line with inflation, further raising the tax component of the final price.
Source: Mexico News Daily
