How much jet fuel is used by commercial aviation each year — and what all that kerosene costs and emits

The world's airlines run on kerosene, and the volumes are staggering: hundreds of billions of litres poured into wing tanks every year. The question travellers and analysts keep asking is a simple one — how much jet fuel is used, what does it cost, and how much carbon does it release?

The short answer is that global commercial aviation burns somewhere between 350 and 365 billion litres of jet fuel in a normal year. IATA reported that airlines consumed 96 billion US gallons — about 363 billion litres — in 2019, with a fuel bill of roughly US$188 billion. That single year of jet fuel consumption is the anchor most other estimates cluster around.

A figure of "269 billion litres burned in 2017" circulates online, but primary sources do not support it. IATA's economic data and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) both place airline fuel consumption close to 360 billion litres in the pre-pandemic years, so 269 billion understates the real total by roughly a quarter. The verified numbers below are stated with their source and year, and every unit is converted so the volume, weight and emissions line up.

How much fuel does aviation use in a year

How much fuel does aviation use annually depends on which body is counting, but the estimates converge. IATA, the airline trade group, tracks fuel as part of its industry economics: 96 billion US gallons in 2019. Multiplying by 3.785 litres per gallon gives about 363 billion litres. The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), which reports on the sector's environmental footprint, put commercial operators at 348.75 billion litres in 2023 — a whisker below 2019 once traffic had recovered from the pandemic. Both figures describe scheduled and non-scheduled commercial flying worldwide.

From litres to tonnes: the conversion that matters

Jet A-1, the standard commercial kerosene, has a density of about 0.8 kilograms per litre. That single number lets any of these volumes be expressed as weight, which is how engineers and emissions accountants prefer to work. ATAG's 348.75 billion litres for 2023 is therefore about 279 million tonnes (348.75 × 0.8 ≈ 279). IATA's 363 billion litres for 2019 comes to roughly 290 million tonnes. Whichever unit a report uses, the underlying airline fuel consumption is the same physical quantity — a few hundred million tonnes of kerosene moving several billion passengers.

Roughly 350 billion litres of jet fuel a year — about 280 million tonnes — keeps the world's commercial fleet in the air.

What the fuel bill costs airlines

Fuel is one of the two biggest costs any airline carries, alongside labour. IATA estimated the global fuel bill at about US$188 billion in 2019, equal to roughly 23.7% of the industry's operating expenses at an average Brent crude price near US$65 a barrel. Because the bill is the product of volume and an oil price that swings widely, a modest move in the market can add or strip billions from airline balance sheets in a single year — which is why carriers hedge fuel and chase every percentage point of efficiency.

How much CO2 all that jet fuel emits

Burning one kilogram of jet fuel releases about 3.16 kilograms of CO2. Applied to the annual totals, that is a large number. The ICCT calculated that commercial aviation emitted 918 million tonnes of CO2 in 2018, about 2.4% of all CO2 from fossil-fuel use that year. ATAG reported 882 million tonnes of CO2 in 2023, around 2% of human-caused emissions. The two check out against the fuel figures: 279 million tonnes of kerosene × 3.16 ≈ 882 million tonnes of CO2, exactly ATAG's number. So the volume, the weight and the emissions all describe one consistent picture of jet fuel consumption per year.

Why the totals keep climbing

Aircraft are far more efficient per seat than they were a generation ago, yet total fuel use keeps rising because passenger numbers rise faster than efficiency gains. More people flying more often, and more air freight, outpaces the fuel saved by newer engines and fuller cabins. That is the tension driving the industry's interest in sustainable aviation fuel and next-generation aircraft — the only levers that cut the absolute total rather than just the fuel burned per passenger. For a lower-carbon way to cover long distances, see the data desk's look at high-speed rail versus flying.

Frequently asked questions

More transport figures, each one sourced and converted, are collected in the full statistics index, or start from the TravelStatsMan home page.