The prices of premium motor spirit ( PMS), otherwise known as petrol, and that of the automotive gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel, increased by 222.92 percent and 25.45 percent respectively in the last 12 months, thus worsening the cost of living in the country.
While petrol prices increased to N630.63 in October 2023, from the N195.29 it sold in October 2022, diesel on its part jumped from N801.09 per liter recorded in October, 2022, to N1004.98 per liter in October 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) in its Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol), and Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel),Price Watch (October 2023), however reports that on month-on-month basis, PMS price increased by 0.71 percent from the N626.21 it sold in September 2023.
Diesel on the other hand, recorded an increase of 12.82 percent from the N890.80 in the preceding month of September to an average of N1004.98 in October 2023.
The NBS reported that on State profile analysis, Zamfara State had the highest average retail price for Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol), at N659.38, Gombe and Borno States were next, with N658.33 and N657.27, respectively. On the other side, Lagos, Oyo and Delta States had the lowest average retail prices for Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol), at N590.95, N592.19 and N599.38 respectively.
For diesel, the variations in the State prices shows that the top three State with the highest average price of the product in October 2023 were all in North Central zone of the country, these include Plateau State (N1150.00), Nassarawa State (N1138.00) and Benue State (N1091.67). Furthermore, the least three states with lowest prices were Rivers State (N824.44), Borno State (N827.27) and Kebbi State (N845.00).
The Zonal representation of average price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) shows that North Central Zone recorded the highest price of N1090.69 while North East Zone has the lowest price N947.32.