The price of gasoline, during the first half of 2021, registered an increase of 25.6% in Panama, being the second country in the region, after Argentina with the highest percentage of increase (49.2%), according to an analysis of the firm picodi.com marketing agency.
In the analysis, the variations in the price of gasoline during the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year were reviewed and it was calculated how many liters of fuel a person could buy with an average minimum wage.
The study picodi.com uses the database Globalpetrolprices.com where prices of fuel sold to the retail appear in more than 150 countries and has as its primary source of official agencies in each country, in the case of Panama , the National Energy Secretariat that publishes fuel prices every 14 days.
Currently and until July 30, a liter of 95 octane gasoline at the Panama and Colón stations sells for 93 hundredths and a gallon for $ 3.55. In July 2020, when consumption had fallen due to the pandemic, the 95 octane liter cost 64 hundredths and the gallon 2.43 dollars, that is, in one year the increase has been 1.11 dollars per gallon.
Panama does not have a refinery and buys finished fuels on the international market, according to fluctuations in the price of oil; and must index the costs of insurance, transportation and tax for the State.
Gasoline prices also rose in Nicaragua (23.1%), the Dominican Republic (20.6%), Puerto Rico (+ 20.2%), Guatemala (16%),
Costa Rica (9.1%) and Paraguay (+ 7.5%). The opposite trend was only observed in Ecuador and Colombia, where average gasoline prices decreased slightly in year-on-year terms with less than 1%.
In America, the cheapest fuel is sold by Ecuadorians at 49 hundredths of a dollar a liter of gasoline. At the other end of the list, the highest price of gasoline is shipped in Uruguay, at $ 1.35 a liter.
The analysis also calculates how many liters of gasoline can be bought with the average salary in each country. In the case of Panama, with an average net salary of $ 736 per month at an average price of gasoline of 81 hundredths a liter, 909 liters of gasoline can be bought. Indicates that the average price of gasoline is represented by its average value between January and June 2021.
Depending on the average salary income of each country, you can also buy fuel. In America, the United States leads with 4,723 liters, followed by Canada with 2,616 liters and Puerto Rico with 2,264 liters.
In countries such as Honduras (489 liters, position 12), El Salvador (414 liters, position 15), Paraguay (352 liters, position 17) and the Dominican Republic (300 liters, position 19) are in the second part of the list with less liters of gasoline. In contrast, the situation is better in Guatemala (517 liters, position 11),
Costa Rica (711 liters, position 8), Panama (909 liters, position 6), Bolivia (954 liters, position 5) and Ecuador (965 liters, position 4).