National Bureau of Statistics has said the average retail price of a litre of petrol increased from N191.65 in September 2022 to N626.21 in September 2023.

It made the declaration in its Petrol Price Watch for September 2023 released in Abuja on Saturday.

It stated that the September 2023 price of N626.21 represented a 226.75 per cent increase over the price of N191.65 recorded in September 2022.

“Comparing the average price value with the previous month of August 2023, the average retail price increased by 0.08 per cent from N626.70.

“On state profiles analysis report, Taraba paid the highest average retail price of N665.56 per litre, followed by Borno and Benue at N657.37 and N641.29, respectively.

“Conversely, Rivers, Delta and Jigawa paid the lowest average retail prices at N602.55, N605.88 and N617.42, respectively,’’ it stated.

Analysis by zones showed that the North-East recorded the highest average retail price in September 2023 at N638.33, while the South-South recorded the lowest at N618.47 per litre.

The NBS also stated in its Diesel Price Watch Report for September 2023 that the average retail price was N890.80 per litre.

It explained further that the September 2023 price of N890.80 per litre amounted to a 12.77 per cent increase over the N789.90 per litre paid in September 2022.

“On a month-on-month basis, the price increased by 4.27 per cent from the N854.32 per litre recorded in August 2023,’’ it added.

On the state profile analysis, the report said the highest average price of diesel in September 2023 was recorded in Kano at N967.78 per litre, followed by Anambra at N950.95 per litre and Niger at N950.55 per litre.

On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Bayelsa at N840.16 per litre followed by Katsina at N840.55 per litre and Rivers at N840.82 per litre.

In addition, the analysis by zones showed that the South-East has the highest price at N918.06 per litre, while the South-South recorded the lowest price at N863.97 per litre.

NAN