The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that the average retail price of premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol rose by 87.88 per cent between October 2023 and October 2024.

The NBS said while the product sold for N630.63 in October 2023, in October 2024, the price rose to N1,184.83 following the full deregulation of the product as announced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited (NNPCL).

As of May 2023 before the removal of the fuel subsidy, the price of fuel was N238.11. This quickly jumped to N545.83 immediately after the President announced the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29 2023.

Since then the price has continued to rise and dragging along with it, the prices of other commodities as transport fares also rose steadily worsening inflation.

On-month-on-Month basis, the price rose from N1,030 in September 2024 to N1,184.83 in October, showing an increase of 14.98 per cent.

Ebonyi State recorded the highest average retail price during the month under review at N1292.86, Jigawa and Borno States were next, with N1288.18 and N1283.79, respectively.

Conversely, Delta, Nasarawa, and Lagos States had the lowest average retail prices for the product at N1,050.00, N1,063.68, and N1,080.95 respectively.

On the Zonal analysis, the South East Zone had the highest average retail price of N1256.76, while the North-Central Zone had the lowest price of N1132.94.

Meanwhile, NBS also reports that the average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) increased by 43.41 per cent on a year-on-year basis from a lower cost of N1004.98 per liter recorded in October 2023 to a higher cost of N1441.28 per liter in October 2024.

On a month-on-month basis, an increase of 1.58 per cent was recorded from N1418.83 in September 2024 to an average of N1441.28 in October 2024.

The top three States with the highest average price of the product in October 2024 include Bauchi State (N2031.00), Benue State (N1792.00), and Plateau State (N1743.65).

On the other hand, the top three lowest prices were recorded in Ogun State (N1200.71), Kaduna (N1244.50), and Ekiti State (N1278.65).

The Zonal representation of the average price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) shows that the North East Zone has the highest price of N1650.62 while the South West Zone has the lowest price of N1326.50 when compared with other Zones.