The recent fuel price increases were, statistically speaking, not as bad as the 1985 increase.
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The 15% hike in the petrol price in April was a bitter pill to swallow, but your parents or grandparents could probably relate to a worse spike.
In January 1985, the inland price of 93-octane petrol increased by a massive 39% overnight, fueled by a drastic weakening of the rand, according to data compiled by Statistics SA.
This was, in turn, caused by a flight of capital as international sanctions against the apartheid government started and as the gold price collapsed.
The increase was announced on 23 January and came into effect at midnight, leading to long queues at fuel stations, of which many still applied “office hours”.
It probably sounds ridiculous, but the increase was by 25c a litre, raising the price from 63.5c to 88.5c. However, Stats SA converted this to 2026 money, indicating that it would have amounted to an increase of R4.94 today. This is more than the R3.06 per litre increase in April 2026, reflecting the impact of the Middle East conflict.
According to Stats SA analysis, the April increase was the 7th-worst of the last 50 years, and the May increase was the 8th-worst, with an increase of 14%.
Fuel price inflation has not been a smooth journey.
The Stats SA analysis uses 93-octane as a basis, since it is the only fuel grade that has remained relatively constant, if going unleaded, over the 50 years.
Over the past 50 years, the Gauteng price of 93-octane petrol increased from 21.1c per litre to R26.52 per litre.
Stats SA says: “For those wondering about the decimal places in these two amounts – yes, the petrol price was set at fractions of a cent in the old days!”
Reasons for spikes in fuel prices.
Fuel exceeded R1 per litre in November 1985, and R10 per litre in 2008. It breached R20 per litre for the first time in December 2021.
The new price set in May 2026 is the highest on record for inland 93-octane.
Stats SA points out that in January 1980, 10c was worth a lot more than today. “Consumers could buy much more with that amount back then. A 10c increase in petrol prices in 1980 would have been far more painful than a 10c rise today.”
Some of the biggest spikes in fuel prices were caused by the Iranian Revolution (1979), the rand freefall (1985), and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait (1990).
