Ebonyi, Imo, and Anambra were three states that recorded the lowest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) in December 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the lowest retail price for 12.5 kg, with Ebonyi at N10,142.86, followed by Imo and Anambra with N10,150.90 and N10,264.29 respectively.
This suggests that while many Nigerians grappled with inflation that was prevalent in the cost of cooking during the festive season in December, residents of Ebonyi, Imo, and Anambra might not have suffered as much, as the price of refilling both a 5kg and 12.5kg gas were relatively ‘cheap’.
“The average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) increased by 3.18 percent on a month-on-month basis from N11,155.15 in November 2023 to N11,510.16 in December 2023,” the report said.
Still, by zones, South-South recorded the highest average retail price for refilling 12.5kg of cooking gas with N12,700.14, followed by North-Central with N11,585.89.
On state profile analysis, Cross River recorded the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) with N13,572.22, followed by Edo with N13,265.63 and Delta with N13,041.67.
However, residents of Ebonyi, Imo, and Anambra were spared from the harsh reality of high cooking costs in December that Nigeria’s steady inflation rate spearheads.
According to the NBS, the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) increased by 2.79 percent on a month-on-month basis from N4,828.18 recorded in November 2023 to N4,962.87 in December 2023.
Again, Ebonyi recorded the lowest retail price with N4,071.43, followed by Imo and Abia with N4,088.24 and N4,155.88, respectively.
Owing to high global crude oil and gas, and Nigeria’s forex crisis, today’s retail price of a kg of gas is N1200, but for South-Eastern states, particularly Ebonyi, Imo, and Anambra, it costs about N850.57 per kg to refill a 12.5kg gas cylinder in December 2023; a considerably cheap price compared to other states and zones.
The report also showed that Adamawa recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) with N5,725.33, followed by Jigawa with N5,686.88, and Lagos with N5,671.05.
On a zone-by-zone basis, it costs N11,585.89 in North-Central, N11,373.94 in North-West, N11,203.16 in North-East, N11,429.45 in South-West, N12,700.14 in South-South, and N10,632.14 in South-East, which is the lowest in the zones, to refill 12.5kg of gas in retail price as at December 2023.
