Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are bucking a trend of rising fuel consumption in Canada.  

New figures released by Statistics Canada show that despite the higher cost of fuel, gross sales of gasoline rose to 42.1 billion litres last year -  a 1.5 per cent increase from 2010.

At the same time, the average price at the pump jumped to $1.24 per litre in 2011 from $1.04 per litre the year before, an increase of 19.2 per cent.

In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, gross gas sales fell over the same period.

Wilsons Fuels vice-president Dave Collins tells News 95.7 there’s no easy explanation, but it may simply be part of Maritime culture.

“It’s almost a badge of honour here to save money, so I think that’s one reason why we’d be a bit of a trendsetter when it comes to being more fuel efficient,” he said.

Collins says Maritimers also appear to be making more conscientious choices in their purchase of new vehicles.

“When you go to get a new car, you can get a gasoline Jetta or a diesel Jetta and a diesel Jetta gets 30 per cent better fuel economy, so I’m going to spend a little bit more and have the better fuel economy,” he said. “I think those decisions are getting made with every purchase here.”

Drivers in Ontario and Quebec combined for more than half the country’s gross gasoline consumption in 2011, while those in Alberta made up 14.2 per cent of all gas sales.

Collins says the trend will likely reverse in 2012, saying consumption rates in other markets are significantly lower already.