The prices of premium motor spirit (PMS) and of automotive gas oil (AGO) rose by 157.57 per cent and 50.2 per cent respectively in the 12 months covering February 2023 to last month.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated this in a report released yesterday, saying the price of petrol rose from N263.76 per litre in February 2023 to N679.36 per litre in February 2024. The increase indicates a 157.57 per cent change.
The report also shows that diesel prices rose from N836.91 per litre recorded in February 2023 to N1,257.06 per litre last month. On a month-on-month basis, the increase in the price of petrol was 1.66 per cent, pushing it up to an average of N668.3 per litre while diesel increased by 9.02 per cent from the N1,153.01 it was in January 2024.
Zamfara state had the highest average retail price for Petrol in February at N750.43, Kebbi and Taraba States were next, with N746.67 and N710.56, respectively.
On the other side, Kwara, Ogun and Benue states had the lowest average retail prices of petrol, at N650, 650.83 and 652.73 respectively. For diesel, Akwa-Ibom state had the highest average price of the product at N1,525, followed by Gombe state at N1,500 and Kwara at N1,444.
Nigeria has been struggling with rising inflation, especially the food segment, which has been blamed largely on the high cost of transportation.
The country has also seen some companies exiting because of the inclement business environment.
