As finger pointing escalates, take a look at how the costs for a litre of petrol break down

October 9, 2018

These figures were calculated by the AA a fortnight ago.

As the finger pointing over pumped up petrol prices escalates, 1 NEWS has revealed a breakdown of the components in the cost of a litre of petrol, calculated by the Automobile Association two weeks ago.

For every litre of petrol, the biggest chunk, 34 per cent, is made up of the imported cost of refined fuel.

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Twenty-eight per cent is the fixed fuel excise tax which pays for roads and transport projects.

That doesn't include Auckland's regional fuel tax.

Then there's 13 per cent GST and two per cent for the Emissions Trading Scheme levy.

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The rest of the price is made up of a two percent shipping cost, a 21 per cent importer margin - what fuel companies earn to offset costs, plus profit margin.

For context, New Zealand has the sixth lowest fuel tax in the world.

In many developed countries taxes make up around two-thirds of the total price.

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