The war in Iran continues to weigh on Americans’ wallets, costing them more in fuel than consumers in any other country in the world, new data shows. While President Donald Trump says the cost of war will be justified by economic prosperity, his administration could implement policies that would make the problem worse.
U.S. consumers have paid an average of $471 more in fuel prices since the start of the war in Iran in February, according to a report released Monday by the Finland-based nonprofit research institute the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). That’s nearly eight times higher than the global average of about $60 in increased energy costs per person. As a country, the United States has spent a total of $160 billion on increased fuel costs since the start of the war, followed by China at $54 billion and Canada in third place at $17 billion.
The war in Iran has cost American households about $2,000, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, a sum that includes both soaring prices at the pump, as well as rising airfares and inflation due to increased transportation spending and supply chain shakeups during the past seven months of turmoil in the Middle East.
Trump has repeatedly tried to assuage Americans’ concerns about the rising costs associated with the war. At a rally in North Carolina in September, the president downplayed affordability concerns. He argued that the war was necessary to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons and that the United States was making a “fucking fortune” from increasing its energy production.
“It’s a very small price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said last month of fuel costs, which have now topped $4.26 a gallon, up from $2.98 before the war. “Don’t forget that.”
The White House did not immediately respond. Fortunerequest for comment.
Why are fuel costs higher for Americans than the rest of the world?
To be sure, the war in Iran has not created the conditions under which American consumers, in particular, pay higher energy costs. While global supply strains have driven up fuel prices globally, the outsized impact on U.S. consumers is the result of an American economy and culture structured around oil.
“If you compare the United States with countries in Europe with similar income levels, you can really see the effect of decades of lower fuel prices and less emphasis on sustainable transportation,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of CREA and author of the report. Fortune. “Of course, undoing this takes a lot of time and effort. »
The United States is highly exposed to rising fuel costs, in part because it is beholden to global market rates, a consequence of still having to trade heavy oil despite being a major producer of diesel. But the heavier energy burden on U.S. consumers is primarily due to the country’s reliance on oil rather than other sustainable means of energy, the ACI argued.
The United States is adopting fewer electric vehicles than other countries. And less efficient gasoline cars travel farther on U.S. roads than in other countries, meaning that U.S. consumers simply use more fuel than consumers in other countries, the report says. The ACI found a positive correlation between countries with the largest electric vehicle market share (Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Belgium) and fuel savings per person.
Around the world, sales of electric vehicles have increased as fuel costs have risen. In Denmark, for example, electric vehicles accounted for 81% of new vehicle sales in the first eight months of 2026. Almost all new vehicle sales in Norway during the same period were electric vehicles, and 57% of new vehicle sales in China were fully electric. Some European countries like Germany have seen a decline in gas and diesel demand in 2026.
For comparison, only 7.3% of new vehicle sales in the United States during this period were plug-in electric vehicles, and the report found that American drivers who opted for eclectic cars saw only $17 increase in charging costs since the beginning of March due to rising electricity prices.
How could Trump’s policies further increase fuel costs for Americans?
Myllyvirta suggested that this model is set to continue. A series of U.S. policy changes has dissuaded Americans from buying electric vehicles and automakers from building fuel-efficient vehicles.
The Trump administration ended a $7,500 tax credit on new electric vehicles in September 2025, which it said would devastate the auto industry. Analysts have cited the end of the incentive as the reason why demand for electric vehicles has stabilized in the United States and the reason why companies like Ford have reduced production of fully electric cars in favor of hybrid vehicles.
Last month, Trump issued new fuel economy standards, relaxing Biden-era regulatory requirements for fuel efficiency to mitigate pollution — a move that the president said would make cars more affordable, but that environmentalists say would raise fuel costs and wipe out any savings on vehicles.
According to Myllyvirta, rising fuel costs for Americans are poised to continue, even if the war ends. Although energy prices will stabilize once this conflict ends, reliance on gasoline-powered cars will cause this cycle to repeat during the next energy shock.
“The only certainty is volatility,” he said. “Prices will fall, and then there will be further shocks. And as long as the dependence on oil continues, this cycle is going to happen with effects on consumers, with effects on inflation and economic policy.”
Gn bussni
