Litres to gallons calculator
Enter litres and pick the gallon you mean — US or imperial — and get the figure in both, plus millilitres.
| Breakdown | Value |
|---|
Estimate. The method and sources are on this page — check them against your own case before you act.
How it is calculated
There is no single answer to how many litres are in a gallon, because two different gallons are still in use. The calculator makes you choose one and shows both, so you can see how far apart they are.
US gallons = litres ÷ 3.785411784 · imperial gallons = litres ÷ 4.54609
Pick the gallon
The US gallon is 3.785411784 L and the imperial gallon is 4.54609 L. US fuel, milk and recipe labels use the US gallon; older UK material uses the imperial one.
Divide by the factor
10 litres ÷ 3.785411784 = 2.6417 US gallons. The same 10 litres ÷ 4.54609 = 2.1997 imperial gallons. Both are exact divisions of defined quantities.
Keep the labels when you compare
Mileage figures such as mpg are meaningless without the gallon. A car doing 40 mpg US is doing about 48 mpg imperial for the same fuel consumption, because the imperial gallon is bigger.
Litres to gallons — quick chart
| Litres | US gallons | Imperial gallons |
|---|---|---|
| 1 L | 0.2642 | 0.2200 |
| 2 L | 0.5283 | 0.4399 |
| 5 L | 1.3209 | 1.0998 |
| 10 L | 2.6417 | 2.1997 |
| 20 L | 5.2834 | 4.3994 |
| 50 L | 13.2086 | 10.9985 |
| 100 L | 26.4172 | 21.9969 |
| 3.785 L (1 US gal) | 1.0000 | 0.8327 |
| 4.546 L (1 imp gal) | 1.2009 | 1.0000 |
| 200 L | 52.8344 | 43.9938 |
| 500 L | 132.0860 | 109.9846 |
| 1000 L | 264.1721 | 219.9692 |
What most pages get wrong
The imperial gallon is about 20% bigger
One US gallon is 3.785411784 L and one imperial gallon is 4.54609 L. That is a 20.1% difference — large enough that an mpg figure without a country label is ambiguous.
India sells fuel in litres, so gallon figures are imported
Indian pumps and vehicle specs use litres. US fuel economy is quoted in miles per US gallon, while older UK figures use the imperial gallon, so convert the gallon before comparing any mpg number.
A litre is a cubic decimetre
One litre is 1 dm³, or 0.001 m³, and 1,000 ml. That definition is why the litre is the base of everyday volume in India, from water bottles to fuel tanks.
A 10-gallon tank is not 10 gallons everywhere
A 10 US gallon tank holds 37.85 L; a 10 imperial gallon tank holds 45.46 L. The number on the label is identical and the volume is not.
Frequently asked questions
How many litres are in a gallon?+
How many gallons is 10 litres?+
Is an imperial gallon the same as a US gallon?+
Which gallon does mpg use?+
How do I convert litres to gallons by hand?+
How many litres is a 20-litre jerry can in gallons?+
Why is a litre not exactly a quarter of a gallon?+
Sources, dates and a changelog.
Every number this calculator uses is either an input you control or a value from the sources below. The formula is compiled and tested at build time, so the page cannot ship with a broken calculation.
Sources
This page
- Last verified: 29 October 2026
- Next review: 29 April 2027
- Vertical: Unit Converters
- Build tests: 4 passed
- Changelog: 1 entry
How we handle errors
- Spotted a mistake? Report it — we correct and log it.
- Corrections appear in the changelog below.
- Read the methodology and the disclaimer.