• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Transportation costs rise for 8th month in 2022

Transport activities contributed 1.35% to nominal GDP in Q2 – NBS

The cost of transportation remains on the increase since the beginning of this year, as shown in the most recent Transport Watch statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics for the month of August.

The NBS’ Transport Fare Watch report presents data covering bus journey within the city per drop, constant route, bus journey intercity, state route, and charge per person. It also covers airfare charges for specified routes’ single journey, journey by motorcycle (Okada) per drop, and waterway passenger transport.

According to NBS Transport Watch statistics, the average airfare for passengers climbed by 69.9 percent in just eight months, from N38,352 in January to N65,041 in August. The report stated that the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journeys, increased by 6.96 percent on a month-on-month basis from N60,812 in July 2022 to N65,041 in August 2022. On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 76.72 percent from 36,805 in August 2021.

BussinessDay research also revealed that the cost of aviation fuel has increased from N400 per litre in February to N900 per litre, causing airlines to increase the price of one-way economy class tickets to cover the rising expenses.

Delta recorded the highest air travel fare for the month of August(for specified routes single journey) at N76,000, Adamawa was second with N70,500, while Jigawa, Nasarawa, Osun, Niger, and Gombe had the lowest rates at N60,000 each. The South-South recorded the highest air transportation fare in August 2022 with N67,367, followed by the North-East with N66,950, and the North-Central with N62,236, according to the breakdown of transportation fare categories by zones.

Due to their rising prices, petrol and diesel are not excluded, as they contribute to the increase in transport fares, as diesel currently costs N786.88 a litre, down from N288.09 in January 2022, while Petrol increased to N189.46 in August from N164.09 in January, according to NBS.

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The average intercity bus price paid by commuters also had an increase of 0.57 percent month over month from the N3,758 reported in July 2022. The fare increased 46.02 percent from N2,589 in August 2021 compared to yearly, and when compared within the eight months of the year, it increased to N3,779 in August 2022, from N2,784 in January, an increase of 35.7 percent.

The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop, decreased by 0.05 percent on a month-on-month basis from N602.77 in July 2022 to N602.48 in August 2022. On a year-on-year basis, however, the average fare paid rose by 39.92 percent from N430.58 in August 2021.

At the state level, Taraba State had the highest fare with N820.18, followed by Bauchi with N780.52, and Borno with N456.17 for bus travel within the city (per drop constant route).

The highest fare for intercity bus travel (state route charged per person fare) was N5,900 in Abuja, followed by N5,200 in Adamawa, and the lowest fare was N1,690 in Kwara in August 2022.

The South-West recorded the highest fare, N4,097, followed by the North-East with N3,911, and the North-West recorded the lowest fare, N3,606 according to the distribution of transportation fare categories by zones for interstate bus travel.

In August 2022, the Northeast, which spent N648.06 on bus journeys inside the city, was followed by the North-West, which spent N620.89, and the South-West, which spent N570.00.

The North-East reported the largest amount of intercity bus trips with N661.74, followed by the South-South with N603.94, and the South-West with N572.10

While the average fare paid for water transportation (waterway passenger transport) grew to N974 in August 2022, up from N888 in July 2022, a growth of 9.7 percent. The fare increased 14.84 percent year over year from N848 in August 2021.

For water transport, the South-South had the highest fare paid with N2,272, followed by the South-West with N857, while the North-East had the least with N619.64

The highest motorbike transport fare in August 2022 was N720.17 in Kwara State, followed by N660.26 in Lagos. Edo recorded the lowest amount at N170.26.

Motorcycle commuters (Okada) paid the highest fare in the North-Central with N496.72, followed by the South-West with N484.11, and the North-West recorded the lowest fare with N338.53.