It feels like we’re paying the most for gas that anyone has EVER paid, but that is NOWHERE near the truth!

Canadians have a tendency to complain about the seemingly limitless price of gasoline, but believe it or not, we have it good compared to a lot of other countries.

Europeans have long been paying the equivalent of two times of what Canadians pay for a litre of gas, while prices in Asia and Australia have long outstripped those in North America.

“People just care that the price of gas has gone up from what it used to be and is taking a bigger chunk of their wallet,” Earl Sweet, senior economist at BMO told the Toronto Star. “We don’t compare ourselves to everyone else because we don’t have much knowledge of what goes on in other countries.”

In many European nations, taxes make up more than 50 per cent of the per litre cost of gas. In the Netherlands for example, 59 per cent of the price of a litre of gas is tax.

“In Europe, governments have instituted higher taxes to meet infrastructure needs and help pay for transit systems, whereas we’ve put less of an emphasis on that in North America,” said Jason Parent, an analyst at MJ Ervin & Associates, a London, Ont.-based petroleum consulting firm.

“We’ve gotten used to cheap fuel and built our society around that. We drive big cars and live 50 kilometres outside the city, so it’s a bit of a shock when prices go up. But in comparison to some places, however, we’re pretty well off.”

Just how well off? The Star scoured the country and the globe to bring you the following list of today’s average gas prices in Canada and elsewhere. You might not feel so bad when you see what people are paying in the UK.

Canada:

• Vancouver: 144.1 cents/L

• Calgary: 121.9 cents/L

• Winnipeg: 122.9 cents/L

• London, Ont.: 139.6 cents/L

• Guelph-Cambridge: 139.6 cents/L

• Barrie: 137.3 cents/L

• Toronto: 139.6 cents/L

• Ottawa: 132.9 cents/L

• Montreal: 144.9 cents/L

• Halifax: 136.9 cents/L

United States:

• New York, NY: 112.4 cents/L

• Chicago, IL: 117.9 cents/L

• Seattle, WA: 106.9 cents/L

• Los Angeles, CA: 112.5 cents/L

• Nashville, TN: 99.8 cents/L

Europe:

• United Kingdom: 216.4 cents/L

• France: 226.2 cents/L

• Germany: 215.6 cents/L

• Netherlands: 236.5 cents/L

• Denmark: 233.2 cents/L

• Italy: 215.8 cents/L

• Greece: 236.8 cents/L

World

• Sydney, Australia: 150.5 cents/L

• Auckland, New Zealand: 164.3 cents/L

• Johannesburg, South Africa: 144.7 cents/L

All prices in Canadian dollars as of May 10, 2011.

As tough as it is right now, it could be a LOT worse…!  Does this change your perception of the gas price situation?

Sources: Tomorrow’s Gas Prices Today, Gas Buddy, Europe’s Energy Portal, Shell South Africa, AA Petrolwatch, and MotorMouth.