Which gallon do you mean?
This page converts to the US gallon unless you pick another. A US gallon is exactly 231 cubic inches, 3.785411784 L. The UK or imperial gallon is exactly 4.54609 L, about 20 percent bigger, so the same amount in liters is a smaller number of UK gallons: 10 L is 2.642 US gallons but 2.2 UK gallons.
A simple rule: if the source is American, it means the US gallon. If it is British, or an older text from a country that once used imperial measures, it is probably the UK gallon. When a number matters, look for the word "imperial" or "UK", or check the miles per gallon figure against the unit used for the fuel.
There is also a US dry gallon, about 4.4 liters, for dry goods such as grain. This converter does not use it.
How to convert liters to gallons
Divide the liters by 3.785411784 for US gallons, or by 4.54609 for UK gallons. In multiplying form that is liters × 0.264172 or liters × 0.219969.
Worked example: a car has a 45 L fuel tank. 45 ÷ 3.785411784 = 11.888 US gallons, or 45 ÷ 4.54609 = 9.899 UK gallons. A 2 L bottle of water is 0.5283 US gallons, or 67.6 US fluid ounces.
The decimal never ends, so the answer is rounded to the digits you choose, and the working tells you when it is rounded.
Liters in US and UK gallons
- 1 L is 0.264 US gal, or 0.22 UK gal.
- 2 L is 0.528 US gal, or 0.44 UK gal.
- 5 L is 1.321 US gal, or 1.1 UK gal.
- 10 L is 2.642 US gal, or 2.2 UK gal.
- 20 L is 5.283 US gal, or 4.399 UK gal.
- 40 L is 10.567 US gal, or 8.799 UK gal.
- 50 L is 13.209 US gal, or 10.998 UK gal.
- 60 L is 15.85 US gal, or 13.198 UK gal.
- 100 L is 26.417 US gal, or 21.997 UK gal.
For everyday sizes: a US milk gallon is 3.785 L, a 5 gallon water bottle is 18.93 L, a 20 gallon aquarium is 75.7 L, and a 14 gallon fuel tank is 53 L.
Fuel prices and miles per gallon
Fuel is sold by the liter in most of the world and by the US gallon in the US, so a price per gallon needs dividing by 3.785 to compare it with a price per liter. The UK sells fuel by the liter but still quotes fuel economy as miles per imperial gallon.
That difference matters: a car that does 30 miles per UK gallon does about 25 miles per US gallon, because the UK gallon holds 1.201 US gallons. The same car, the same trip, and two different numbers. When you compare fuel economy, check which gallon the figure uses.