DieselDiesel & gas oil
52,731 L/s
burned worldwide every second · September 2026
0 L since you arrived · 45% of the three fuels
PetrolMotor gasoline
51,078 L/s
burned worldwide every second · September 2026
0 L since you arrived · 44% of the three fuels
Jet fuelKerosene-type jet fuel
12,925 L/s
burned worldwide every second · September 2026
0 L since you arrived · 11% of the three fuels
How we estimate it: world consumption of these three fuels in 2024 from EIA International Energy Data, moved month by month with EIA’s estimate of world liquid fuel consumption (Short-Term Energy Outlook, October 2026) and split with each fuel’s 2024 share. Litres per second = barrels per day × 158.987 ÷ 86,400. Full method.
00 · One second
What one second of the world’s fuel looks like
Every particle is 100 litres, flowing at the real rate of September 2026: diesel, petrol and jet fuel in three lanes.
01 · World since 1980
Is the world burning more fuel than ever?
Yearly world consumption of all oil products since 1980. Switch between the river, the stacked volumes and the shares of each product. Diesel passed petrol in the 1990s; jet fuel collapsed in 2020. 2025 is an estimate.
02 · Latest months
Is the world burning more or less than a year ago?
Each turn of the spiral is one year, each spoke a month. The colour shows the change against the same month a year earlier, so the seasons do not distort the picture.
| Month | All liquid fuels · bn L/day | vs a year earlier | million bbl/day |
|---|
Table: world consumption of all liquid fuels (EIA estimate), in billion litres per day and in million barrels per day, with the change against the same month a year earlier. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (October 2026). EIA revises its monthly estimates every month, so recent figures can change.
03 · A century of fuel
From the first motor cars to today
Official national series that go back much further than world data: the United Kingdom since 1899 (petrol and diesel since 1903) and the United States since 1945. Each panel has its own scale.
United Kingdom, 1899–2025
United States, 1945–2025
billion litres per day
Diesel & gas oilPetrolJet fuel
11973 Oil embargo
21979 Second oil shock
32008–09 Financial crisis
42020 COVID-19
UK 1940–46: petrol was reported together with aviation spirit (gap). 1939: diesel is grouped differently in the source (break in series). U.S. jet fuel series starts in 1973.
Sources: UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, historic inland deliveries of petroleum products, converted from tonnes with UN conversion factors — contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; U.S. Energy Information Administration (September 2026), product supplied.
04 · Who burns it
Which countries burn the most petrol, diesel and jet fuel?
The race since 1980, the ranking over time, how much each country burns per person, and the full list for 2024: petrol, diesel and jet fuel together.
The race since 1980
Per person vs whole country
Rank over time
The list for 2024
Petrol + diesel + jet fuel, 2024. Romania: 27 million litres a day, 1.40 L per person (world: 1.22 L). Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration.
05 · Scale
One hour of the world's fuel
Petrol, diesel and jet fuel together, at the September 2026 rate, in things you can picture.
420
million litres per hour
116,734 L/s × 3,600 s, all countries.
168
Olympic pools per hour
A 50 m Olympic pool holds about 2.5 million litres.
10.1
billion litres per day
63.4 million barrels a day of these three fuels.
1.23 L
per person per day
Daily total in September 2026 ÷ 8.23 billion people (2025) — very unequal by country (see 04, which uses 2024).
06 · Seasons
When do people drive the most?
Monthly petrol deliveries in the EU and the United States compared with the average of the same year. The summer driving peak repeats every year; spring 2020 shows the lockdowns.
07 · Questions
Questions about world fuel consumption
How much fuel does the world use per day?
About 10.1 billion litres of petrol, diesel and jet fuel per day in September 2026. All oil products together — including LPG, fuel oil, naphtha and petrochemical feedstocks — came to about 16.4 billion litres per day in 2024.
How much diesel does the world use per day?
About 4.6 billion litres of diesel and gas oil per day in September 2026 — 28.7 million barrels a day, or roughly 1,664 billion litres a year. Diesel is the world’s most used fuel: it runs trucks, buses, trains, farm and construction machinery, generators and many ships.
How much petrol (gasoline) does the world use per day?
About 4.4 billion litres of petrol per day in September 2026 — 27.8 million barrels a day, or roughly 1,612 billion litres a year. The United States alone used about 33% of the world’s petrol in 2024.
Which countries use the most diesel?
In 2024 the biggest diesel consumers were: United States 603, China 589 and India 299 million litres a day. See section 04 for the full ranking of petrol, diesel and jet fuel together, also per person.
How much fuel does the world use per year?
In 2024 the world used about 3,644 billion litres of petrol, diesel and jet fuel, and about 5,988 billion litres of all oil products together (including LPG, fuel oil and petrochemical feedstocks).
How is the live counter calculated?
We take the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest monthly estimate of world consumption, convert it to volume per second and count from the moment you open the page. It shows the average flow in that month, not a meter on real pumps.
How often is the data updated?
The sources are checked every day. EIA publishes its Short-Term Energy Outlook once a month, with estimates up to the previous month; yearly figures by country follow EIA’s International Energy Data. EU monthly deliveries come from Eurostat.
Why is diesel ahead of petrol?
Diesel and gas oil move trucks, buses, trains, farm and construction machinery, generators and many ships — not only cars. In the world total it passed petrol in the 1990s.
08 · Sources & method
Where the numbers come from
Sources and licences
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Data and Petroleum product supplied (data released September 2026) — U.S. government work, public domain.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (October 2026) — monthly world consumption of liquid fuels (history and EIA estimates; forecasts are not used) — U.S. government work, public domain.
- Eurostat, supply and transformation of oil, monthly data (nrg_cb_oilm), gross inland deliveries of motor gasoline, EU27 — © European Union, reused with acknowledgement under the Eurostat copyright notice; converted to litres and percentages by fuel-prices.eu.
- UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, crude oil and petroleum since 1890. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Conversion factors: UN Energy Statistics Yearbook (litres per tonne: petrol 1,351; diesel 1,149; jet/kerosene 1,235).
Method
- 1 barrel = 158.987 litres = 42 US gallons; volume per second = barrels per day × 158.987 ÷ 86,400 (litres).
- Months after 2024: EIA world total of the three fuels in 2024 × (STEO world liquid fuels in that month ÷ STEO average of 2024), split with each fuel’s 2024 share. STEO months after December 2024 are EIA estimates.
- Seasons: EU motor gasoline deliveries (tonnes, 1,351 litres per tonne) plus U.S. motor gasoline product supplied; % difference from the average of the same year.
- Country ranking: EIA consumption of motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil (diesel, gas oil and heating oil) and jet fuel; population from the same database. EIA and UK DESNZ define consumption differently, so the UK figure in 04 differs from section 03.
- Data fetched 2026-11-03, page data built 2026-11-03.