Average bus fare rises 11.6% in May – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed an 11.6 percent year-on-year rise in the average bus fare in Nigeria during May, according to the NBS Transport Fare Watch Report for May 2023.

The report stated that the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop experienced a slight 0.23 percent increase, reaching N649.59 compared to N 648.12 in April.

The NBS’ Transport Fare Watch for May 2023 covered various transportation categories, including bus journeys within the city per drop, bus journeys intercity (state route) charge per person, airfare charge for specified routes (single journey), motorcycle (Okada) per drop, and water-way passenger transport.

Regarding bus journeys within the city per drop, Taraba State recorded the highest fare at N870, followed by Bauchi at N810.04. Borno had the lowest fare at N510.

For intercity bus travel (state route charged per person fare), the highest fare was observed in Abuja at N6,205, followed by Adamawa at N5,725. Kwara State had the lowest fare at N2,000.

In another category, the average fare paid for intercity bus journeys per drop in May was N4,002, marking a 0.19 percent increase compared to April’s N3,994. Year-on-year, bus journey fares rose by 9.09 percent from N3,669 in May of the previous year.

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Analyzing the statistics by zone, the Northeast had the highest transport fares for bus journeys within the city, with an average of N703. The South-south followed closely with N660.75, while the South-east had the lowest at N617.14.

For bus journeys intercity, the South-west had the highest fare at N4,257, the North-east at N4,154, and the North-west had the lowest at N3,825.

The report also highlighted that the average fare paid for motorcycle transportation increased by 0.49 percent to N464.55 compared to April’s rate of N462.29. Year-on-year, motorcycle fares rose by 11.30 percent from N417.39 in May of the previous year.

Air passengers experienced a significant 34.06 percent increase in average fare for specified routes for a single journey within a year. The fare rose from N55,906 in May 2022 to N74,948 in May 2023.

Kebbi State recorded the highest air transport fare for specified routes (single journeys) at N80,000, while Bayelsa had N79,050, and Abia had the lowest at N69,800.

In terms of regions, the North-east had the highest air transport fare in May 2023 at N77,058, followed by the South-east at N75,350. The North-central had the lowest fare at N72,950.