The price of Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol rose by 42.63 percent from N264.29 in 2022 to N185.30 in 2023.
This was disclosed through a report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics which also revealed prices across every state in the country.
Stating how the data was obtained NBS said more than 700 NBS workers perform fieldwork in all states of the country with the help of supervisors who are monitored by internal and external observers.
The NBS collected fuel prices from over 10,000 respondents and outlets in all 774 local governments across the states and FCT.
The estimates were based on the expenses of households on fuel and the actual prices at which they purchased those fuels. The resulting figures represent the average prices for each state and the entire country.
The NBS audit team conducts random price verification on the recorded prices.
The executive summary of the report reads, “The average retail price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) in March 2023 was N264.29, indicating an increase of 42.63% relative to the value recorded in March 2022 (N185.30).
“Likewise, comparing the average price value with the previous month (i.e. February 2023), the average retail price increased by 0.20% from N263.76.”
Providing report on states, NBS said that Imo state had the most expensive average retail price for petrol at N332.67.
“On state profile analysis, Imo state had the highest average retail price for Premium Mo-
tor Spirit (Petrol) with N332.67, followed by Taraba with N330.00 and Borno with N324.55,” it stated.
Speaking about the state with the lowest average retail, the body said Benue state leads other states.
It said, “Benue recorded the lowest average retail price for Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) with N195.00, followed by Plateau with N196.79 and Nasarawa with N197.50. In addition, analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price in March 2023 with N306.00, while the North-Central had the lowest with N205.10.”