Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) – also known as Autogas – is a widely used alternative fuel. LPG is a mixture of propane and butane, and it is being produced as a by-product of the natural gas and oil refining industry. LPG is a mature, but quite niche alternative fuel that can be used in special spark ignition engines or as an auxiliary fuel in dual fuel compression ignition engines together with diesel oil. The use of LPG in transportation is concentrated in a few countries (such as Russia, Turkey, South Korea, and Poland) and it is mainly used in bi-fuel light duty vehicles.

In 2022, 7% of the global consumption of LPG was used in transportation (WLPGA 2023). The rest of the LPG is used, for example, in space and water heating, cooking, electricity production, and in many industrial processes. The use of Autogas is concentrated to a small number of markets that include Russia, Turkey, South Korea, Poland, and Italy. Together, these five countries accounted for almost half of the world consumption in 2022, and the top ten countries accounted for 73% (WLPGA 2023).

Globally, around 2% of the car fleet runs on LPG, with this share reaching as high as 10% in countries such as Italy and South Korea (IEA 2026). Most of these vehicles are either retrofitted (converted from gasoline using LPG kits) or factory-built bi-fuel models capable of running on both gasoline and LPG. Mono-fuel LPG vehicles remain rare. This flexibility means that LPG consumption in transport could, in principle, be reduced with limited operational consequences for drivers. This is a consideration that has gained relevance amid recent LPG supply constraints for cooking in some regions (IEA 2026).

Global Autogas demand has remained relatively stable in recent years, standing at just over 25 million tonnes in 2022, despite LPG being more price-competitive than gasoline and diesel. Growth came to a virtual standstill that year, largely due to a collapse in Autogas sales in Ukraine following the outbreak of war. Meanwhile, some markets have seen remarkable growth: in Kazakhstan, for example, Autogas demand surged from just 75,000 tonnes in 2011 to 1.3 million tonnes in 2022, driven by rising domestic demand amid disrupted export routes (WLPGA 2023).

Figure 1. Global Autogas (LPG) consumption by country, 2022. Values are shown in thousand tonnes (kt). (WLPGA 2023).