Soaring cooking gas prices are compounding the suffering of millions of Nigerians facing the country’s worst economic hardship in a generation.
New government data released Wednesday shows that cooking gas rose 47% in price in the last one year to July.
The average retail price for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) in Nigeria has surged by a staggering 46.69% in the past year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The bureau however said the price for a 5kg cylinder dropped slightly from N6,966.03 in June 2024 to N5,974.55 in July. This means gas per kg was N1194.8 in July and N1393.2 in June.
Still, the decline has again been overshadowed by a significant rise in August as customers reported buying an average of N1300 a kg of gas.
The removal of the fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the naira, key decisions made under President Tinubu’s administration, have led to soaring inflation and increased poverty across the country.
In June, inflation hit a 28-year high of 34.2% before slightly easing to 33.4% in July. The removal of the gasoline subsidy has resulted in a doubling of pump prices, while the naira has depreciated by 70% since June 2023.
The government has done little to stem the hardship, instead spending lavishly on the costly lifestyle of its officials.
On Tuesday, after months of speculation, President Bola Tinubu confirmed he had purchased a new airplane by travelling aboard the jet to France. The carrier reportedly cost $100,000, about N10.6 billion.
Regional gas prices
The NBS report shows that amongst states, Borno recorded the highest average price for a 5kg cylinder at N7,088.59, while Delta state had the lowest at N5,392.86.
Similarly, the North-East region experienced the highest average prices, followed by the North-Central, while the South-South region recorded the lowest.
The situation for larger cylinders was equally challenging. The average price for a 12.5kg cylinder increased by 55.66% year-on-year, reaching N14,261.57 in July 2024. Gombe state had the highest average price for this size cylinder, while Bauchi had the lowest.
The rising cost of cooking gas has had a profound impact on Nigerian households, especially those in low-income communities.
Many families have had to reduce their consumption of other essential goods or resort to less efficient and more polluting cooking methods. The increase in prices has also put a strain on businesses, particularly restaurants and food vendors.
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