There are two things that we’ve come to rely on as South Africans over the last couple of years.

Load shedding – or ‘outages’ as they’re now called – and petrol hikes.

It’s the same song and dance every time, especially when it comes to the petrol price.

A notice goes out warning us about the price increase. Everyone rushes to fill up, the food prices go up, the salaries stay the same, and life gets a little bit harder.

To give you an idea of just how bad it currently is, MyBroadband looked into how much the price of petrol has increased over the last 10 years.

The AA offers a history of fuel prices on its website to help South Africans stay abreast of their financial expenses.

This tracks a variety of fuel types and separates coastal and inland prices for consumer convenience.

The data shows that fuel prices have increased by more than double since 2009, with unleaded petrol showing the largest price increase over the course of this period.

Because we’re lucky enough to live within distance of the beach, here’s a table showing petrol prices in coastal areas.

You can find another table showing inland prices here.

It’s depressing, but perhaps it’s not actually as bad as it looks.

MyBroadband also looked into how our fuel prices currently compare to the rest of the world and, to be fair, we aren’t the country paying the most for petrol.

High fuel prices aren’t exclusively a local phenomenon; due to the limited sources of crude oil and the fragile political climates in regions where it is found, prices tend to fluctuate with regularity.

The data used in the table below comes from globalpetrolprices.com, and this table looks at the price of gasoline.

For a table comparing diesel prices, go here.

As you can see, Germany pays the most for petrol per litre. On the other hand, they’re a first-world country with a great healthcare and public transport system, as well as far higher wages, which always helps.

We’re gearing up for another petrol price increase in the near future, so keep an eye on the news.

It might be time to look into alternate transport.

I’ve heard that a Vespa is a very decent way to get around…

[source:mybroadband&mybroadband]