The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a rise in the average retail price of petrol and diesel in Nigeria, with petrol prices skyrocketing by 222.92% from October 2022 to October 2023.
In its Petrol Price Watch for October 2023, the NBS revealed that the average price of a litre of petrol reached N630.63 in October 2023, a significant increase from N195.29 in October 2022.
The NBS also noted that compared to the previous month of September 2023, the average retail price of petrol increased by 0.71%.
The price surge has not been uniform across the country, with Zamfara State recording the highest average retail price of N659.38 per litre, followed by Gombe and Borno at N658.33 and N657.27 per litre, respectively. Conversely, Lagos, Oyo, and Delta paid the lowest average retail prices, with N590.95, N592.19, and N599.38 per litre, respectively.
Zone-wise analysis revealed that the North-East Zone recorded the highest average retail price in October 2023 at N644.16 per litre, while the South-West recorded the lowest price at N616.81 per litre.
The NBS also released its Diesel Price Watch Report for October 2023, indicating that the average retail price of diesel was N1004.98 per litre.
The price of diesel has also increased significantly, with the October 2023 price of N801.09 per litre amounting to a 25.45% increase over the N801.09 per litre paid in October 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, the price increased by 12.82% from the N890.80 per litre recorded in September 2023.
The price variations for diesel across states and zones follow a similar pattern as petrol, with Plateau State recording the highest average price of N1150.00 per litre, followed by Nasarawa at N1138.00 and Benue at N1091.67. The lowest price was recorded in Rivers State at N824.44 per litre, followed by Borno at N827.27 and Kebbi State at N845.00 per litre.
Zone-wise analysis showed that North Central had the highest price of N1090.69 per litre, while North East recorded the lowest price at N947.32 per litre.
