Nigeria’s economic hardship is deepening as citizens are now grappling with soaring cooking gas prices.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) jumped 58.68% in October 2024 on a year-on-year basis.
The NBS further revealed that the price rose from N10,545.8745.87 in October 2023 to N16,734.55 in October 2024.
At the state level, Rivers State recorded the highest average retail price for a 12.5kg LPG refill at N17,895.00, closely followed by Osun at N17, 739.06, and Benue at N17,731.25.
On the other hand, Katsina State had the lowest price for the same size cylinder, at N14,725.00. Nassarawa and Adamawa also had relatively lower prices, with refills costing N15,390.55 and N15,474.21, respectively.
At the zonal level, the South-South zone experienced the highest average price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder, at N17, 114.67, followed by the South-East at N16, 906.01.
The North-Central zone had the lowest average price for the 12.5kg refill at N16,411.19.
Part of the report read: “On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 51.58 per cent from N4, 562.51 in October 2023.
“On state profile analysis, Borno recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N7, 939.29, followed by Yobe with N7,580.00, and Benue with N7,578.00.
“On the other hand, Katsina recorded the lowest price with N6, 270.00, followed by Zamfara and Delta with N6, 410.71 and N6, 427.78 respectively.
“In addition, analysis by zone showed that the North-East recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N7,319.03, followed by the South-West with N6,961.58 while the North-West recorded the lowest with N6,703.95.”