Guatemala Gas Price History 2026: Year by Year

Update, October 8, 2026 — fuel taxes suspended from October 1 to December 31. Decree 22-2026, sanctioned by President Arévalo and published in the Diario de Centro América on September 30, exempts premium and regular gasoline and diesel from the IDP fuel tax and from VAT from October 1 through December 31, 2026 (IDP is a fixed Q4.70 per gallon on premium, Q4.60 on regular and Q1.30 on diesel; VAT is 12%); the decree’s own estimate is a cut of up to Q9.41 per gallon for premium, Q9.10 for regular and Q6.34 for diesel, and the full exemption must be passed on to the consumer and shown on the electronic invoice (Diario de Centro América). The exemption took effect on October 1 (AGN, October 1) and on October 5 AGN reported that MEM had published the implementing regulation, Government Agreement (Acuerdo Gubernativo) 164-2026 (AGN, October 5). MEM’s own estimate of the saving per gallon is about Q9.05 for premium, Q8.33 for regular and Q6.45 for diesel (AGN, October 1), and any MEM price on this page monitored before October 1 does not include the exemption. Both taxes return on January 1, 2027. The separate Decree 21-2026 (Q39/Q41 price caps) was vetoed. Details on Guatemala gas prices today.

The historical gas price in Guatemala correlates directly with the international oil market, modulated by the USD/GTQ exchange rate, local taxes and — decisively in 2026 — government subsidy policy. This page tracks trends so you can anticipate movements and plan fuel expenses.

Summary: In 2026 policy moved pump prices far more than the oil market did. MEM-monitored self-service prices for the capital fell to Q31.05 regular / Q32.05 super / Q27.25 diesel on 1 July 2026 under the Decreto 11-2026 subsidy, then climbed week after week once the subsidy ended — MEM’s current monitored reading (26 October 2026) is Q32.07 regular / Q34.49 super / Q42.69 diesel. Diesel is no longer the cheap fuel — it carried the largest subsidy, rose 61% in five weeks, and passed regular gasoline in the week of 20 July 2026.

2026 price path (Guatemala City metro, self-service)

Basis: MEM-monitored self-service prices for Guatemala City and surrounding areas, quetzales per US gallon — not MEM’s national estimate.

Per US gallon, self-service, Guatemala City and surrounding areas. Readings from 1 July 2026 onward are MEM’s published weekly averages; earlier dates are readings from our own daily tracker of MEM figures. The 17-31 August rows are the MEM monitored readings our feed stored at the time (no 10 August reading was stored); 7, 16, 21 and 28 September were re-read from MEM’s weekly comparison table for the metropolitan area, self-service. Once MEM publishes a reading after 28 September, a final row renders live from the current feed — the same reading shown at today’s gas price.

Why the 2020-2025 table is gone. This page used to carry annual averages for 2020-2025 attributed to MEM. Its 2026 row (annual average about Q41.00, floor Q39.50) could not be reconciled with our own MEM-sourced data, which recorded super at Q33.00 in March 2026 — so the whole series is treated as unverified rather than restated. We are re-sourcing the longer-run history from MEM before republishing it.

Fuel types — typical differences

Self-service, Guatemala City and surrounding areas. Full-service pumps run about Q0.93 more per gallon; branded grades (V-Power and similar) add about Q0.50 on top of the standard grade.

Note: Diesel used to be the cheapest of the three. It carried the largest subsidy under Decreto 11-2026, rose 61% in the five weeks after that subsidy ended, and passed regular gasoline in the week of 20 July 2026. It has stayed above it since — it did not merely close the gap.

Seasonal patterns

We are not publishing a seasonal pattern for Guatemala yet: the month-by-month claims previously shown here were not traceable to MEM, and the one full cycle we do have on record was dominated by policy rather than season.

What actually moved 2026:

• 1 May 2026 — the Decreto 11-2026 subsidy takes effect and pump prices fall
• 2 July 2026 — the subsidy funds are exhausted and it ends
• July 2026 — regular rises 32% and diesel 61% in five weeks

A seasonal series will go back up here once we have one from MEM.

Impact of exchange rate

Guatemala imports 100% of its fuel and pays for it in dollars, so a weaker quetzal makes fuel more expensive even when international oil is flat. This site converts at the Banguat reference rate carried in the fuel feed — Q7.663 = US$1 at MEM’s 26 October 2026 monitoring, which puts the monitored capital prices at about US$4.19 per gallon for regular, US$4.50 for super and US$5.57 for diesel. The quetzal-per-gallon sensitivity figure previously shown here was not sourced and has been removed.

What does NOT affect the price in Guatemala

• Time of day: a station posts one price at a time — there is no rush-hour pricing
• The day of the week: MEM monitors on a Monday, but that is an observation date, not a price reset — there is no cheap day to time

What does: the station itself. Fuel prices in Guatemala are not regulated — every station sets its own price, and MEM only monitors and publishes what stations actually charge. (Between May and July 2026 MEM did publish binding reference prices, but solely to administer the Decreto 11-2026 subsidy.)

To plan fuel expenses

If you spend regularly on fuel (truckers, Uber drivers, frequent travelers):

1. Pump it yourself — self-service runs about Q0.93 per gallon below full-service, roughly Q14 on a 15-gallon fill
2. Do not try to time the week — stations set their own prices and can move them any day
3. Check today’s gas price before a long trip — we track MEM’s weekly monitored figures there
4. Budget diesel separately — a diesel vehicle’s fuel bill rose far harder than a gasoline one when the subsidy ended: from Q27.25 per gallon on 1 July 2026 to Q42.69 at MEM’s 26 October 2026 monitoring, a rise of Q15.44

For US-based diaspora — fuel cost for visits

If you frequently visit Guatemala and rent a car:

For a diesel pickup, at Q42.69 the same 12-14 gallons costs Q512-Q598. The consumption column is a planning estimate, not a MEM or manufacturer figure; only the price is sourced.

Related

• Today’s Gas Price — current national prices
• Price by Department — regional variation
• Diesel vs Regular vs Premium — which fuel suits you
• Cost to Fill Tank — calculation by model
• Power Outages — energy related