What the names on a Zambian pump mean
- Petrol
- Unleaded petrol for cars and motorbikes, priced per litre in kwacha (K).
- Diesel
- Road diesel for trucks, buses and diesel cars, also priced per litre in kwacha.
- Kerosene
- A household fuel for lamps and stoves. It is not a fuel for road vehicles.
- Jet A-1
- Aviation fuel. The regulator lists it beside the others, but it is not sold for cars.
One set of prices a month
Zambia’s Energy Regulation Board (ERB) publishes the pump prices for petrol, diesel, kerosene and Jet A-1 once a month, and they take effect at midnight at the turn of the month. It weighs three things: the international cost of petroleum products, the kwacha–dollar exchange rate and the taxes on fuel.
October 2026: more than K6 a litre
The ERB’s prices from midnight on 30 September 2026 were K31.46 a litre for petrol and K33.27 for diesel, up from K25.29 and K26.86 in September: a rise of K6.17 on petrol and K6.41 on diesel. Kerosene went from K27.02 to K29.76 and Jet A-1 from K28.71 to K31.85. The Board named higher international oil prices, tension in the Middle East and the return of excise duty as the causes.
The tax part is the easiest to follow. The government had suspended excise duty and zero-rated VAT on petroleum products from April to September 2026. Excise duty came back on 1 October, and VAT returns on 1 December 2026. The Lusaka Times also reported the international price of petrol rising from US$104.94 to US$121.58 a barrel and of diesel from US$150.92 to US$160.88, while the kwacha slipped from K19.28 to K19.76 to the dollar.
Will the monthly change survive?
On 1 October 2026 the Lusaka Times reported that President Hichilema said monthly price changes were no longer working for the country and that Zambia was considering pricing periods of two or three months. Under the current monthly rule, the next prices are due at the start of November.
How Zambia compares with the other countries whose governments publish pump prices: official fuel prices by country. Why a price is what it is: how fuel prices are set, and the tax gaps between neighbours in why fuel costs different across borders. The symbols on a nozzle are explained in what the labels on a fuel pump mean.
Sources: ERB, October 2026 petroleum pump prices and price build-ups; Zambia Monitor, ERB hikes prices by over K6 (1 October 2026); Lusaka Times, tax relief ends (1 October 2026).