The average retail price of Premium Motor Spirit rose to ₦1,596.25 per litre in May 2026, a 55.31 percent increase compared to ₦1,027.76 recorded in the same month a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.
The NBS Premium Motor Spirit Price Watch report for May 2026, released in June, also showed a month-on-month increase of 4.13 percent from ₦1,532.93 in April 2026 — a more moderate climb compared to the surge seen in diesel prices over the same period.
The 12-month trend data in the report reveals that petrol prices remained relatively stable through most of 2025, hovering between ₦970.59 and ₦1,061.35 from September to November 2025. The acceleration began in early 2026, with the national average jumping from ₦1,051.47 in February to ₦1,288.54 in March, then climbing steadily to May’s figure.
At the state level, Edo recorded the highest average petrol price at ₦1,722.91 per litre, followed by Bauchi at ₦1,715.47 and Benue at ₦1,698.57. The cheapest petrol was found in Adamawa State at ₦1,469.83, with Katsina at ₦1,470.63 and Sokoto at ₦1,489.33 among the lowest.
Across the geopolitical zones, the North-West recorded the lowest average petrol price at ₦1,564.11, while the South-South posted the highest at ₦1,623.84. Within the North-West, Kano State’s average stood at ₦1,607.27, up 62.65 percent year-on-year from ₦988.16 in May 2025.
The contrast with diesel prices in the same period is stark. While petrol rose 55.31 percent year-on-year nationally, diesel surged 86.40 percent over the same period to ₦3,277.47 per litre — more than double the petrol price. The North-West, which pays the least for petrol among all zones, simultaneously bears the highest diesel burden in the country at a zonal average of ₦3,313.60. For businesses, farmers, and households that rely on diesel-powered generators, water pumps, and haulage — particularly prevalent across the region’s agrarian economy — the gap between the two fuels represents a compounding cost pressure.
The NBS data was gathered from over 10,000 respondents across sample outlets in all 774 local government areas of the 36 states and the FCT.
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