The country with the most expensive taxi fare is Switzerland, at €22.68 for a 5km taxi ride, while the country with the cheapest taxi fare is Egypt, at 0.84 euro for 5km, according to research by www.taxi2airport.com.
Taxi2Airport analysed data (live figures @ 11/06/2019) collated by Taxi-Calculator.com. The average taxi fare presented is relative to a 5km (3.1 miles) journey. Taxi2Airport chose to focus on 5km because, faced with a journey of this length, hailing a cab is often a necessity – especially if you have luggage or kids to hand.
The country with the cheapest taxi fare is Egypt – a cost of just 0.84 euro, for a 5km taxi fare. In fact, the base fee for a taxi fare in Egypt is as low as 0.24 euro. Egypt is followed closely by India (€1.29), Thailand (€1.41) and Indonesia (€1.68) in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, in Malaysia (€1.70) and Mexico (€1.80) you can grab a 5km cab ride for under €2.
Rounding off the top 10 cheapest countries for taxi fares is Turkey (€2.24), followed by China (€2.41), Argentina (€2.44), and Vietnam (€2.47).
At the other end of the spectrum, taxi fares for a 5km journey are far more expensive in European countries, such as Sweden (€9.91) and France (€10). In Britain, you can expect to pay €10.08 for a 5km ride. In fact, the base fee for a taxi fare in Britain is €2.96 – one of the highest fees recorded.
On the other side of the world, New Zealand is next with a fare that is marginally higher than that in Britain, at €10.53. Followed by more European counties such as Austria (€11.60), Belgium (€12.90), the Netherlands (€13.40) and Germany (€13.80).
However, the two most expensive countries to take a taxi are Japan (€15.64) and Switzerland – at €22.68!
Five Tips to Save Money
Taxi2Airport asked David Else, writer of several Lonely Planet guidebooks, for his tips to help save money and organise trips more efficiently:
- In many developing countries (such as some countries in Africa) the taxis have no meters, so it is important to ask the driver in advance what the fare will be. It is even more important to do this before getting in the car and setting off. Otherwise it’s too late.
- If you think the driver may be tempted to overcharge, ask a friendly local what the fare should be. As a tourist, you may not get exactly the same fare as a local, but if it’s pretty close you should be happy.
- If you are taking public transport around a city in a developing country (such as India), it can be a frenetic experience. If possible, find out in advance what the fare should be – by asking a local – and have the exact money ready to pay the fare.
- In developed countries with good public transport networks (such as The Netherlands), it pays to do a bit of research in advance on how to buy tickets. For example, if you buy from a ticket machine in advance it is cheaper than buying the ticket on the service, or at a booking desk. Understanding the cities where you must buy the ticket in advance saves embarrassment too.
- In some locations, it is cheaper to buy public transport tickets in batches of 10 or 20, so check this possibility if you are in a city for a few days and planning to take lots of public transport trips while you are there.
