How to Work Out Your Petrol Cost per Kilometre and Monthly Budget in Pakistan
Divide the price by your mileage: at Rs 382.02 a litre, a 12 km a litre car costs Rs 31.84 a km. See bike, car and diesel costs and a 1,000 km monthly budget.
Short answer: Divide the petrol price by your kilometres per litre. At OGRA's price of Rs 382.02 a litre from 21 October 2026, a bike doing 40 km a litre costs Rs 9.55 a kilometre, and a car doing 12 km a litre costs Rs 31.84 a kilometre. Diesel is Rs 389.80.
Most people in Pakistan know what a fill-up costs, but not what a kilometre costs. The second number is the one that lets you compare a daily commute, a bike against a car, or a petrol against a diesel vehicle. We built the examples below from the price sheet of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the regulator that sets the daily fuel price, and from simple division.
Cost per kilometre is the price divided by your mileage
Cost per kilometre equals the price per litre divided by kilometres per litre. Petrol is Rs 382.02 on the OGRA sheet effective 21 October 2026. So a vehicle that does 10 km a litre costs Rs 38.20 a kilometre, and one that does 20 km a litre costs Rs 19.10.
| Vehicle, example mileage | Fuel | Cost per kilometre |
|---|---|---|
| Bike, 40 km a litre | Petrol Rs 382.02 | Rs 9.55 |
| Car, 15 km a litre | Petrol Rs 382.02 | Rs 25.47 |
| Car, 12 km a litre | Petrol Rs 382.02 | Rs 31.84 |
| Car, 10 km a litre | Petrol Rs 382.02 | Rs 38.20 |
| Pickup, 9 km a litre | Diesel Rs 389.80 | Rs 43.31 |
The mileages in the table are examples, not claims about any model. Your own figure matters more, and the next section shows how to get it. The day's price comes from our report on the petrol price on 21 October.
Your real mileage comes from two full tanks
The reliable way to find your mileage is to fill the tank, note the trip meter, drive normally, and fill again. Divide the kilometres by the litres the second fill took. Brochure figures are lab numbers, and traffic, air conditioning and short trips lower them.
- Fill the tank to the first click of the pump and reset the trip meter to zero.
- Drive as you normally do until the tank is about half empty.
- Fill to the first click again and note the litres on the pump receipt.
- Divide the kilometres on the trip meter by those litres. That is your mileage.
- Divide the day's price by your mileage to get the cost per kilometre.
Repeat it twice and use the average, because one fill can be off by a litre. If the pump price on your receipt looks higher than the sheet, check it against the OGRA pump price list.
A 1,000 km month costs Rs 21,223 to Rs 38,202 in petrol
For a car that drives 1,000 km a month, the petrol bill depends mostly on mileage. At Rs 382.02 a litre, a car doing 18 km a litre spends Rs 21,223. A car doing 10 km a litre spends Rs 38,202, which is Rs 16,979 more for the same distance.
| Car mileage | Litres for 1,000 km | Petrol bill |
|---|---|---|
| 18 km a litre | 55.56 | Rs 21,223 |
| 15 km a litre | 66.67 | Rs 25,468 |
| 12 km a litre | 83.33 | Rs 31,835 |
| 10 km a litre | 100.00 | Rs 38,202 |
A bike doing 40 km a litre and riding 600 km a month uses 15 litres, which is Rs 5,730.30. These bills are rounded to the nearest rupee. They exclude oil changes, tyres and parking, which are separate costs.
A rupee off the price saves about Rs 83 a month for a 12 km a litre car
Each Re 1 change in the litre price changes a month of 1,000 km by your litres used. For a 12 km a litre car that is 83.33 litres, so Rs 83. Petrol is Rs 5.38 below its 1 October price of Rs 387.40, which saves about Rs 448 a month for that car.
OGRA changes the price on most working days, so the monthly bill is a moving figure. The better habit is to budget on the month's average, and our list of daily OGRA petrol and diesel prices in October 2026 gives that average. Households that track other costs can pair it with the method to calculate your own inflation rate.
Diesel costs more per litre but may cost less per kilometre
Diesel is Rs 7.78 a litre dearer than petrol on 21 October, at Rs 389.80. A diesel vehicle can still cost less per kilometre if it does more kilometres per litre. Break-even is simple: diesel mileage must be at least 2.04 per cent higher, since 389.80 divided by 382.02 is 1.0204.
That is a rule, not a recommendation to buy either fuel type. We have not tested any vehicle and we quote no brand's mileage. Use your own tank-to-tank figure for each vehicle, and compare the two cost per kilometre numbers directly.
Common questions
How do I calculate petrol cost per kilometre?
Divide the petrol price per litre by your kilometres per litre. At Rs 382.02 and 12 km a litre, it is Rs 31.84 a kilometre.
What is the petrol price in Pakistan today?
On OGRA's sheet effective 21 October 2026, petrol is Rs 382.02 a litre and high speed diesel is Rs 389.80. OGRA publishes a new sheet on most working days.
How much petrol does a bike use in a month?
Divide your monthly kilometres by your mileage. A bike doing 40 km a litre and riding 600 km uses 15 litres, which costs Rs 5,730.30 at today's price.
Is the pump price the same as OGRA's price?
OGRA's sheet price excludes the cost of carrying fuel from the depot to the pump, so a pump can differ by a small amount. A large gap is worth a complaint.
How can I lower my fuel cost per kilometre?
Raise your mileage, because it affects the cost as much as the price does. Keep tyre pressure right, avoid long idling and drive at a steady speed.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
We read the OGRA daily fuel price sheet effective 21 October 2026 on 21 October 2026, from the OGRA price publications page, for the petrol price of Rs 382.02 and the diesel price of Rs 389.80. Every cost in the tables is our own division of those prices by example mileages. We tested no vehicle and did not check any maker's mileage claim.
About the author
Global Affairs & Political Economy Writer
Muhammad Hatim is a book lover who started writing because he enjoys it. At Pakistan Era he writes about international relations, geopolitics and the global economy, with a particular interest in South Asia and the forces behind current events.
