Article Summary
- In March 2023, Nigerians paid 34% more for a 12.5kg cooking gas single refill.
- Also, in March 2023, Nigerians paid 22% more for a 5kg cooking gas single refill.
- The country still imports LPG as the local processing capacity is not enough to meet demand.
The prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, have increased with some Nigerians paying as high as N11,000 for a single 12.5kg refill in March 2023. This is according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In its Liquefied Petroleum Gas Price Watch report, the NBS stated that Nigerian residents in Jigawa state paid an average of N11,687 per refill for a 12.5kg gas cylinder. According to the NBS, Jigawa state recorded the highest price or 12.5kg refill in March 2023.
This was closely followed by Akwa Ibom at N10,880.20 per refill and Cross River at N10,810.65 per refill. Meanwhile, the lowest 12.5kg refill prices were recorded in Ebonyi at N9500, Yobe at N9,600, and Gombe at N9,766.67.
Average prices of 12.5kg cooking gas refill
According to the report, the North Central recorded an average price of N10,192.43 per 12.5kg refill, the Northwest recorded N10,435.35 per refill, the Northeast recorded N9,808.50 per refill, the Southeast recorded N10,271.07 per refill, the Southwest recorded N10,344.59 per refill, and the South-South recorded N10,507.72 per refill.
The NBS noted that the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg gas cylinder, increased by 0.09% on a month-on-month basis from N10,253.39 in February 2023 to N10,262.56 in March 2023. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, this rose by 34.72% from N7,617.71 in March 2022.
5kg customers
The NBS report also highlighted the fact that the highest prices for the 5kg gas cylinder refill were in Kwara at N4,962.87, Abuja at N4,940 and Adamawa at N4,915. Meanwhile, the lowest prices were recorded in Rivers at N4,204.45, Abia at N4,220.15 and Anambra at N4,232.75.
Across the zones, the North Central recorded N4,872.20, the Northwest recorded N4,651.93, the Northeast recorded N4,614.67, the Southeast recorded 4,441.55, the Southwest recorded N4,542.52 and the South-South recorded N4,461.32.
The NBS noted that the average retail price for refilling a 5kg gas cylinder increased by 0.22% on a month-on-month basis from N4,600.57 recorded in February 2023 to N4,610.48 in March 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 22.03% from N3,778.30 in March 2022.
What you should know
Nigeria needs to increase its local gas processing capacity if Nigerians will start paying less for cooking gas. For now, the country still imports LPG to close capacity gaps.
