The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that only 19.4% of households in Nigeria use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for domestic, agricultural, commercial, cultural, or religious purposes.
This finding was disclosed in the 2024 Nigeria Residential Energy Demand-Side Survey (NREDSS), released on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to the report, the survey covered states from across the six geopolitical zones, including Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Ekiti, Oyo, Enugu, Kwara, Plateau, Kano, and Sokoto.
It stated, “This means that about one in every five households use LPG. The average monthly expenditure on LPG stood at N10,239.7 across the surveyed states.”
The report indicated that approximately 67.8% of Nigerian households rely on fuelwood as a source of energy.
It found that 41% of households purchase fuelwood, while 39% obtain it through cutting or collecting.
Additionally, 18.9% of households acquire fuelwood through other means, such as barter, gifts, or borrowing. The report noted that 55.3% of the fuelwood collected consisted of branches, stems, and trees.
It also revealed that one in five households, accounting for 22%, used charcoal during the reference period.
Among these households, 21.6% purchased charcoal, while 0.3% produced it themselves, and 0.6% obtained it through other means.
Households connected to the National grid
The report revealed that over 58% of households across the nine surveyed states are connected to the national grid, with 86.6% having electricity during the reference period.
It found that 85.2% of connected households use an estimated billing system, while 14.8% reported using a pre-paid system.
The average monthly household expenditure on electricity was estimated at N4,155.8 during the same period.
Recommendations
The NBS recommended that, given the widespread use of fuelwood, the government should promote tree replanting initiatives and encourage the adoption of clean energy sources such as LPG, wind, and solar power.
This, it suggested, would help mitigate environmental issues like air and water pollution, climate change, thermal pollution, and waste disposal.
Additionally, the report advised the government to facilitate the establishment of more LPG stations and promote local production of gas cylinders and related accessories to enhance value.
Findings from the report come as a shock to many Nigerians given the prevalence of the use of cooking gas among many households, especially in urban centres.
The result reemphasizes the high multidimensional poverty in Nigeria and how cost and access inhibit households at the lowest economic strata.
In the past two years, the price of cooking gas has skyrocketed from around N600 per kg to almost N1,500 per kg.
Earlier this year, the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Gas) announced that the federal government would be halting the exports of LPG in a bid to control prices locally.
