Intercity transport fare rose 86.40% in Dec. 2023, says NBS

The average fare paid by commuters for an intercity bus journey rose by 86.40 percent on a year-on-year basis from N3, 971.22 in December 2022 to N7, 402.16 in December 2023, the National Bureau Statistics (NBS), said on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, the average fare paid by commuters for intercity bus journeys rose by 19.26 percent compared to N6,206.53 in November 2023.

NBS’ Transport Fare Watch for December 2023 released on Wednesday, disclosed that the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city rose by 40.03 percent from N644.66 in December 2022 to N902.70 while it declined to 13.83 percent from N1, 047.64 in November to N902.70 in December 2023.

NBS further disclosed that the average transport fare paid on Okada transportation was N419.73 in December 2023 which declined by 9.04 percent when compared with N461.45 paid by commuters in December 2022 while Okada fare declined by 11.29 percent on a month-month basis when compared with N473.13 paid by commuters in November 2023.

“For water transport, the average fare paid by passengers increased by 34.77 percent from N1,029.00 in December 2022 to N1,386.76 in December 2023. Monthly, the fare paid by waterway passengers increased by 2.52 percent from N1,352.70 in November to N1,386.76 in December.

“In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey rose by 14.87 percent from N74, 597.30 in December 2022 to N85, 692.12 in December 2023 while on a month-month basis, it increased by 5.36 percent compared to November 2023,” NBS said.

On state profile analysis, the highest intercity bus travel fare was recorded in Akwa Ibom and Anambra with N10,000.00, followed by Abia, Abuja, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Cross River and Gombe with N8,500.00.

The lowest fare was recorded in Kwara with N5,500.00, followed by Taraba with N6,000.00. Taraba state recorded the highest bus journey within the city in December 2023 with N1,350.00 followed by Jigawa with N1,200.00. On the other hand, Abia, Adamawa, and Sokoto states recorded the least with N500.00, followed by Kano with N700.00.

Similarly, Akwa Ibom recorded the highest air transport charges with N95,000.00, followed by Borno with N91,000.00. Conversely, Abia recorded the least fare with N71,000.00, followed by Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau with N80,000.00.

Also, Lagos State had the highest motorcycle transport fare in December 2023 with N800.00, followed by Ondo with N700.00.

The lowest fare was recorded in Anambra with N200.00, while Bayelsa, Edo and Niger followed with N250.00. Similarly, water transport fares were highest in Bayelsa with N4,500.00, followed by Delta and Rivers with N4,100.00, while the lowest fare was recorded in Borno with N450.00, followed by Gombe with N550.00.

For Analysis by zone in December 2023, transport fares of bus journeys within the city recorded the highest in the South-South with N950.00, followed by the North-East with N925.00, while the South-East recorded the lowest with N840.00.

In terms of intercity bus journeys, the South-South had the highest fare with N8,083.33 followed by the South-East with N7,800.00, while the North-Central recorded the lowest with N7,011.43.

Air transportation in December 2023, the South-South recorded the highest fare with N88,918.06, followed by the North-East with N86,750.00 while the North-Central had the least with N82,157.14.

Also, commuters on a motorcycle (Okada) paid the highest fare in the South-West with N488.33 and North-East with N450.00, while the South-South recorded the lowest with N391.67.

The South-South zone had the highest fare on water transport with N3,500.00, followed by the Southwest with N1,375.00, while the Northeast had the lowest with N780.00.