Petrol Price October 2026: What Does a Full Tank Cost at R30.25?

Petrol went up on Wednesday, 7 October 2026: R3.33 a litre for 95 and R3.12 for 93. 95 unleaded now costs R30.25 a litre in Gauteng and R29.38 at the coast, and 93 costs R29.88 in Gauteng. The figures come from the monthly fuel price statement the Central Energy Fund released on 2 October on behalf of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. These prices apply until 3 November 2026.

How much has the petrol price gone up in 2026?

By almost half in seven months. In Gauteng, 95 cost R20.30 a litre in March 2026. It now costs R30.25, which is R9.95 or 49% more. A year ago, on 1 October 2025, it was R21.63. R30.25 is the highest Gauteng price for 95 in the statement's own price history, which goes back to April 2024.

Price change on	95 unleaded in Gauteng, per litre
4 March 2026	R20.30
1 April 2026	R23.36
6 May 2026	R26.63
3 June 2026	R28.06
1 July 2026	R26.10
5 August 2026	R25.58
2 September 2026	R26.92
7 October 2026	R30.25

The statement puts this month's increase down to higher international petrol prices. The rand barely moved, averaging R16.21 to the US dollar over the period measured. The slate levy, which pays down a R10.456 billion shortfall in the fuel price account, also rose by 4.38c to 87.66c a litre.

What does a full tank cost now?

Here is a full tank, from empty, in six everyday cars you can buy new or used on Dryv, at the new price of 95. The tank sizes are from each maker's South African spec sheet.

Car	Tank	Full tank, Gauteng	Full tank, coast	More than in September
Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Hybrid	36 litres	R1,089.00	R1,057.68	R119.88
Suzuki Swift 1.2	37 litres	R1,119.25	R1,087.06	R123.21
Toyota Starlet 1.5	37 litres	R1,119.25	R1,087.06	R123.21
VW Polo 1.0 TSI	40 litres	R1,210.00	R1,175.20	R133.20
VW Polo Vivo 1.4	45 litres	R1,361.25	R1,322.10	R149.85
Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 petrol	47 litres	R1,421.75	R1,380.86	R156.51

Most people fill up from a quarter of a tank, not from empty, so your slip will usually be smaller. The increase on 95 is the same everywhere: R3.33 on every litre. If you are weighing up a Polo Vivo, our used Polo Vivo price guide shows what each year costs.

What does every 1,000 km cost?

The tank tells you what one fill-up costs. Fuel consumption tells you what driving costs. At each maker's claimed combined figure and the Gauteng price of 95:

Car	Claimed consumption	Petrol for 1,000 km	More than in September
Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Hybrid	4.3 litres per 100 km	R1,300.75	R143.19
Suzuki Swift 1.2 manual	4.4 litres per 100 km	R1,331.00	R146.52
VW Polo 1.0 TSI 70kW	5.3 litres per 100 km	R1,603.25	R176.49
Toyota Starlet 1.5 manual	5.4 litres per 100 km	R1,633.50	R179.82
VW Polo Vivo 1.4 55kW	5.5 litres per 100 km	R1,663.75	R183.15
Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 petrol	6.7 litres per 100 km	R2,026.75	R223.11

Claimed figures come from standardised tests. Toyota and Volkswagen both say on their spec sheets that actual consumption varies with driving style, load and conditions, so use these to compare cars, not to budget to the cent.

Where does R30.25 a litre go?

Just over half of it is the fuel itself. These are the statement's figures for 95 in Gauteng.

Part of the price	Per litre
The fuel itself (basic fuel price)	R17.44
Fuel levy and Road Accident Fund levy	R6.54
Retailer's margin	R3.20
Slate levy, wholesale margin, storage, transport to Gauteng and smaller levies	R3.07
Total	R30.25

The fuel levy (R4.29) and the Road Accident Fund levy (R2.25) did not change this month. Together they are 21.6% of the price.

What about diesel?

Diesel has no regulated pump price. The statement sets the wholesale price and each station adds its own margin. Wholesale 50ppm diesel rose by R3.24 a litre and 500ppm by R2.84. In Gauteng, wholesale 500ppm now costs R31.95 a litre before the station's margin. On an 80-litre tank, the October increase alone adds R227.50 (500ppm) to R259.50 (50ppm) if the station passes all of it on.

Illuminating paraffin's maximum retail price rose to R31.82 a litre, from R27.05.

Is a hybrid worth it with petrol at R30 a litre?

It depends on how far you drive. Toyota claims 4.3 litres per 100 km for the Corolla Cross Hybrid and 6.7 for the petrol Corolla Cross. That gap is 24 litres every 1,000 km, worth R726 at today's Gauteng price.

On Dryv on 7 October 2026 there were 28 used Corolla Cross Hybrids and 44 used petrol ones. Matching the year and trim, the four 2024 XR Hybrids asked a median R419,900 and the two 2024 XR petrols a median R369,900. If you pay R50,000 more for the hybrid, the fuel saving at the claimed figures takes 68,871 km to pay it back. At 15,000 km a year, that is more than four and a half years.

My view: a hybrid pays its way if you drive a lot, keep the car for years, or both. If you drive 10,000 km a year and change cars every three years, buy the cheaper petrol car and keep the difference. Dryv listed 265 hybrids on 7 October, 83 of them used. Read whether a plug-in hybrid is worth it before you pay extra for one.

How can you spend less on petrol this month?

If you live inland and your car's handbook allows 93, it costs 37c a litre less than 95 in Gauteng: R16.65 less on a 45-litre tank. Check the handbook first, because some engines are built to run on 95.

If you are shopping for a car, compare the claimed fuel figure as carefully as the price. Between the Suzuki Swift (4.4) and the petrol Corolla Cross (6.7), the gap is R695.75 every 1,000 km at today's price. That is money you pay every month on top of the instalment, so add it to your budget before you sign. Our guide to what the average car loan buys shows how the instalment side adds up.

Where do these numbers come from?

Fuel prices are from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources' fuel price statement for October 2026, released by the Central Energy Fund on 2 October 2026, including its price history table. Tank sizes and claimed consumption are from the current South African spec sheets of Toyota (Starlet and Corolla Cross, issued 7 October 2026), Volkswagen (Polo and Polo Vivo) and Suzuki (Swift brochure). Costs use 95 unleaded at R30.25 a litre in Gauteng and R29.38 at the coast. Dryv's counts and asking prices are from listings on 7 October 2026, not what the cars sold for.