The most expensive countries for car owners’ index

Cars have revolutionised travel and are a convenient way to get from point A to point B, day in and day out. However, all this convenience and motoring freedom comes with a price.

From refuelling and registration/taxes to maintenance, car insurance and parking fees (combined of course with the joys of depreciation), there are a lot of regular expenses involved with car ownership.

Given the differences in legislation and economies across the globe, there are some nations where the cost of car ownership is much more expensive than others.

We’ve crunched some numbers across 26 different countries to find out which ones are the most and least expensive places to own a car in.

The three most expensive countries for car ownership

1.     Denmark

All three of the most expensive countries in this ranking are European, and Denmark takes pole position as the most expensive of all countries in our index. Denmark had the highest average depreciation at US$1,809 (AU$2,876), the third-highest tax and registration at US$355 (AU$564) and the highest average annual spend on fuel at US$2,892 (AU$4,598). On top of all that, Denmark had the second-highest fuel price per litre on the date the data was gathered.

2.     Germany

Germany was ranked second for car expenses thanks to having the third-highest depreciation (US$1,662 or AU$2,643), second-highest inspection costs at US$236 (AU$375), as well as a number of other expenses that were higher than most countries in our index. They were in the top 10 for taxes and registration, maintenance and annual fuel costs. However, Germany’s toll costs were quite low, with drivers paying an average of just US$41 (AU$65) per year.

3.     Finland

Rounding out the podium for the top-three most expensive countries for car ownership is Finland. This Scandinavian nation had the fifth-highest insurance cost (on average) at US$720 (AU$1,145), fourth-highest tax and registration average fees at US$351, (AU$558) and the third-highest amount spent on maintenance at US$2,143 (AU$3,407).

The three cheapest countries for car ownership

1.     Argentina

It’s a South American sweepstake for the three cheapest countries to own a car. Argentina was ranked as the cheapest nation based on having very low expenses across multiple categories, including the smallest amount of depreciation at US$400 (AU$636), cheapest average inspection fees at US$21 (AU$33) and the second-cheapest annual spend on fuel with US$656 (AU$1,043). On top of this, Argentina had the cheapest cleaning expenses, 3^rd cheapest parking and 3^rd cheapest licensing fees.

2.     Colombia

Colombia was the second-cheapest nation for car ownership in our index. This coastal South American nation had the third-cheapest depreciation costing US$647 (AU$1,029) on average, as well as the second-cheapest insurance and the smallest average annual fuel spend at US$248 (AU$394) and US$596 (AU$948) respectively.

3.     Chile

The third-cheapest country for car owners, Chile clinched its space here by having the cheapest licensing fees at US$1.16 (AU$1.84) and the fourth-cheapest average insurance bill at US$268 (AU$426). They were held back from possibly overtaking Colombia by having an average tax and registration cost that was higher than other countries on the index.

Most expensive countries for car ownership index