FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 7, 2026

Contact: minority_jecpress@jec.senate.gov

NEW: Americans Have Paid $25 Billion More for Gas Since Start of Iran War, Surpassing Total Cost of War Itself

WASHINGTON – Today, the national average gas price rose to $4.558 per gallon, which is 53 percent higher than before President Trump began his illegal war with Iran on February 28. With this latest increase, the Joint Economic Committee – Minority found that families have now paid more than $25 billion more for gas since the war began. This exceeds the total cost of the Iran War itself thus far, per the Department of Defense, although that number does not fully account for damage to U.S. bases.

In April, the Committee released a report on gas price data that showed Americans had paid more than $16 billion more for gas since the start of the Iran War. This number was nearly twice as much as the cost increase of $8.4 billion the Committee reported at the end of March. With gas cost increases now surpassing $25 billion, families across the country continue to shell out millions more at the pump to fuel their daily lives.

Read the full reports on the increases in gas costs in April here and March here.

Read more about national average gas prices here.

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