By Abiola Olawale
Importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, dropped by 3.5 billion litres in the last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.
The NBS, in a report released on Wednesday, disclosed that total petrol imports reduced to 20.30 billion litres in 2023 from the 23.54 billion litres recorded in 2022.
This accounts for a decrease of 13.77 per cent year-on-year.. A further breakdown of the report also showed that petrol imports dropped by 3.58 billion litres in the second half of 2023 compared to the year’s first half.
According to the official data, Nigeria imported 8.36 billion litres of petrol in the second half of 2023, a significant decrease from the 11.94 billion litres imported in the first half of 2023, marking a 29.99 per cent reduction.
The report reads in part; “In 2023, PMS truck out stood at 20.22 billion litres, indicating a 16.96 per cent decrease relative to 24.35 billion litres recorded in 2022.
“In terms of imported products, 20.30 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit were imported in 2023 relative to 23.54 billion litres in 2022, showing a decrease of 13.77 per cent. This downward trend is even more notable when compared to H2 2022.
“In the latter half of 2022, petrol imports stood at 11.98 billion litres, resulting in a 30.22 per cent drop when compared to H2 2023, equivalent to a reduction of 3.62 billion litres.”
A breakdown for the monthly volume of fuel imports in 2023 showed that 2.09 billion was brought in January, reduced to 1.99 billion in February, increased to 2.29 billion in March, 1.91 billion in April, and 2.01 billion in May.
It was 1.64 billion in June, 1.45 billion in July, 1.09 billion in August, 1.21 billion in September, 1.16 billion in October, 1.55 billion in November and 1.88 billion in December, respectively.
According to NBS, these figures highlight a drop in consumption across the country.
This revelation comes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a total removal of subsidy on petrol prices.
According to the 2023 full-year foreign trade data, Nigeria’s spending on fuel import decreased by approximately 2.6 per cent, from N7.7tn in 2022 to N7.5tn in 2023.
In terms of semi-annual comparison, the country incurred N3.5tn in fuel importation costs in the second half of 2023, representing a 10.26 per cent decrease compared to the N3.9tn recorded in the first half of the year.
