Victor EzejaThe average retail price of a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol increased from N189.46 in August 2022 to N626.70 in August 2023, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed.
This represents a 230.78 per cent increase within the period under review.
The NBS petrol price watch for August 2023, released on Friday indicated that on a month-on-month basis, the average price value of PMS increased by 4.39 per cent from N600.35 to N626.70 per litre.
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On a state-by-state basis, Taraba State had the highest average retail price for Petrol, at N680.00, followed by Borno and Benue States which recorded N657.27 and N649.14, respectively.
Conversely, Adamawa, Rivers and Delta States had the lowest average retail prices for Petrol, at N594.81, N596.80 and N604.63, respectively, the NBS data revealed.
On the basis of geopolitical zone, the North-East Zone recorded the highest average retail price of N636.93, while the South-South had the lowest price of N616.95.
The increase as reflected in the NBS data was due to the removal of subsidies on petrol by the Federal Government in May ending which led to sudden hike in price of the commodity across the country.
Diesel Rises By 8.57%
The Bureau’s diesel price watch report for August 2023 revealed that the average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) paid by consumers increased by 8.57 percent from N786.88 per litre recorded in August 2022 to N854.32 in August 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, the commodity recorded an increase of 7.53 per cent from N794.48 in the month of July to an average of N854.32 in August 2023.
Analysis of the data according to states showed that Abia recorded the highest average price of N970 followed by Niger State at N960.14 and Abuja at N950.22
On the other hand, Bayelsa had the lowest average price of N700 per litre followed by Katsina State at N771.43 per litre and Kaduna State at N775.42.
Furthermore, the analysis of the data by zone revealed that the North-Central had the highest price at N907.86 per litre, while the South-South recorded the lowest price at N820.02 per litre.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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