Car Rental Prices (2019-2022)

Car rental prices have risen significantly this year as rental companies see soaring demand with limited fleets. The average price of all of our bookings across the world in September 2022 was 130% higher than in September 2019.

Note: Sometimes price statistics for rental cars are stated based on a particular class of vehicle, like economy or compact. This article uses the average price for all bookings. This is a better method because it is weighted by customers' preferences (or necessity for those that book when all cheaper category vehicles are already reserved). It should be noticed that customers' preferences surely changed over the period shown due to the increase in prices across all categories.

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The countries with the lowest average prices tend to be in Central Europe and the Balkans amongst others, particularly in the summer months.

Major tourist destinations also surprisingly make the lists for the winter months. When demand is lower in places like Spain and Portugal in the winter, and with plenty of supply available, prices tend to be much lower than in summer.

Some countries, like Switzerland, have some of the highest daily prices throughout the year. Others like Australia have some of the highest daily prices during their high season (December through March for Australia).

In the summer months, Iceland has some of the highest average prices. This is the prime tourist season — with the country seeing far fewer tourists outside of it — and prices in general are higher there due to its remote location. Other island countries like Barbados, the Seychelles, and Martinique also show up on the highest average price list during some months.

Looking at the average daily price each month for the top countries for travelers renting cars, we can see a sizeable seasonal effect, which isn't surprising.

For most popular travel destinations, the high season corresponds to the summer months. This is true for most of Europe and North America. Countries like Italy, Portugal, and Spain all see higher demand and thus higher prices in summer, with July being the peak.

In Australia and New Zealand, the high season is also the summer, which corresponds to December through February. The charts below show higher prices for these months, but even higher prices for June, July, and August. This is due to the fact that there have been more bookings throughout the year this year. Thus prices have gone up due to that demand. We expect the prices to be similar or even higher when the high season arrives.