Princewill Demian
20 February 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The average price of cooking gas in Nigeria decreased by at least 14 per cent between January 2017 and January 2018, a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report has shown.
The report titled, “Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, (Cooking Gas) price watch”, was published on the bureau’s website.
This marks a remarkable improvement year on year as the price of cooking gas had increased by at least 13 per cent between November 2016 and November 2017.
According to the latest report, the average price of refilling a five kilogram cylinder decreased from N2,567 in January 2017 to N2,190 in January 2018.
In relation to the previous month, December 2017, refilling a five kilogram gas container decreased by 3.21 per cent from N2, 262.
Borno, Yobe and Gombe states had the highest average prices for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder, while Kebbi, Plateau, and Taraba states recorded the lowest average prices for January 2018.
The NBS report also showed that the average price for refilling a 12.5 kilogram cylinder decreased by 21.4 per cent to N4,327 in January 2018 from the price (N5, 508) in January 2017.
When compared to December 2017 at N4,452 the cost of refilling a 12.5 kilogram cylinder decreased by 2.81 per cent in January 2018.
Akwa Ibom, Borno, and Kogi states had the highest average prices for refilling a 12.5 kilogram cylinder with Cooking Gas, while Oyo, Sokoto and Lagos states had the lowest average prices.
Based on a zonal analysis, the North-east recorded the highest average price for refilling five kilogram cylinders with cooking gas at N2,325 and the third lowest price average for refilling 12.5 kilogram cylinders at N4,433.
The South-south had the highest average price for refilling a 12.5 kilogram cylinder with cooking gas at N4, 554 as well as the second lowest average price for refilling a five kilogram cylinders at N2,137.
The North-west had the lowest average price for refilling five kilogram cylinders at N2,126 and the second lowest price for refilling 12.5 kilogram cylinders with cooking gas at N4,095.=
Although the use of cooking gas is increasing among Nigerians, most Nigerians, especially low-income earners still use kerosene stove for cooking.
