Auckland taxi prices are some of the most expensive in the world according to a new report.

Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly

Online car dealership Carspring has released a taxi price index which ranks Auckland as the 12th most expensive city in the world for taxi costs per kilometre.

The index looked at 80 of the most visited cities around the globe and their cab fares.

It found that Auckland taxi prices - nearly $3 per km - are more expensive than New York and Melbourne and almost double that of Sydney's.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, fares in Cairo are only 14 cents per km.

Carspring co-founder Peter Baumgart said the index made it easier for travellers to know how much they should expect to pay for a cab ride.

"I have been travelling the world quite a bit and ... sometimes [I had] negative surprises about taxi fares," he said.

"It's difficult to know [the prices] before going anywhere ... you land at the airport, take a taxi to the city and then you're surprised by how much you're being charged."

Mr Baumgart said while cab prices in Auckland were not the highest in the world, they were on the expensive side.

However, the New Zealand Taxi Federation said it did not believe the index was an accurate representation of taxi prices in Auckland.

Its executive director John Hart said it was not fair that the survey lumped New Zealand, which has a deregulated taxi industry, with countries which are regulated.

He said that meant our prices were driven by the market and competition while others had fares set by the government.

Mr Hart said taxi drivers in New Zealand also had to comply with a number of government standards which adds to the cost of operating cabs.

He said in light of that, he did not find Auckland taxi prices expensive.

"In view of the conditions that taxis have to meet and in view of the costs that are faced by taxis on a day-to-day basis from fuel, to the price of vehicles, to the price of complying with the myriad of regulations put in place by the government, no I don't think they [taxi fares] are [expensive]."

But Mr Baumgart said travellers cared about the price, not whether a cab industry was regulated.

"We did this research for the consumer [so] they can understand what they will be paying," he said.

In other categories, the Taxi Price Index found Auckland fares to be about $12.50 for a 3km ride, $62 for travelling from the Airport to the city centre, $53 for waiting times per hour and $3 for the initial hire.