More Pain for Nigerians as Price of 12.5kg Cooking Gas Rises by 66%

Arthur Eriye

Data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), showed that the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) increased by 69.15 per cent from N9,194 in August 2023 to N15,552 in August 2024, on a year-on-year basis.

No reason was given for the surge by the bureau, however, inflation rate has been on a rising trajectory in recent months, hitting as high as 34 per cent before dropping slightly to 32.15 per cent in August from 33.40 per cent in July of 2024. 

The NBS report tagged, “Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) Price Watch August 2024,” said the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 9.05 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N14,261 in July 2024 to N15,552 in August 2024.

On state profile analysis, Rivers recorded the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder with N17,086. followed by Cross River with N17,050 and Abia with N17,012.

Benue and Sokoto states recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder with N7,000, followed by Rivers with N6,954, and Borno with N6,914.

On the other hand, Taraba recorded the lowest price with N5,600 followed by Abuja and Kogi with N5,825 and N5,857 respectively.

In addition, analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder with N6,585, followed by the South-South with N6,451 while the North-Central recorded the lowest with N6,344.

Contrariwise, the lowest average price was recorded in Bauchi with N13,425, followed by Nassarawa and Adamawa with N13,641 and N13,725 respectively.

Analysis by zone showed that the South-South recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder with N16,524, followed by the South-East with N16,496 while the North-Central recorded the lowest price with N14,767.