By Cynthia Ezekwe.
Nigerian consumers paid higher for petrol and diesel in July 2023 as the average retail price of petrol rose to N600.35, indicating a 215.95 per cent increase when compared to N190.01 recorded in July 2022, while diesel was up 2.60 per cent on a year-on-year basis from a lower cost of N774.38 per litre recorded in July 2022 to N794.48 per litre in July 2023.
This is according to the recent National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) price watch of both commodities for the month of July 2023.
The NBS report showed that during the month under review, the average retail price of petrol per litre increased from N238.11 to N600.35 in July, following the fuel subsidy removal by the current administration.
On a month-on-month basis, petrol increased by 9.99 per cent from N545.83 in June 2023. Meanwhile, diesel recorded a decrease of 2.62 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N815.83 in the preceding month of June to an average of N794.48 in July 2023.
“On state profile analysis, Borno state had the highest average retail price for PMS, at N657.27, Abia and Gombe States were next, with N643.13 and N642.22, respectively. On the other hand, Edo, Kwara and Benue States had the lowest average retail prices for premium motor spirit (Petrol), at N530.00, N535.44 and N537.00, respectively,’’ the report noted.
It pointed out that on zonal profile, the north-east zone had the highest average retail PMS price of N630.13, while the north central zone had the lowest price of N551.58.
“On a month-on-month basis, Looking at the variations in the State prices, the top three states with the highest average price of diesel in July 2023 include Niger State (N892.50), Abia State (N890.63) and Enugu State (N872.73),’’ NBS stated.
Furthermore, the top three lowest prices of diesel were recorded in Bayelsa State (N683.20), Anambra/Bauchi State (N700.00) and Ondo State (N701.58).
The zonal representation of average price of diesel shows that the north central zone had the highest price of N863.10, while the south west zone had the lowest price of N759.45 when compared with other zones of the federation.
