The latest official petrol price for Nigeria in our data is ₦1,596.25 a litre. It is the national average for May 2026, published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Please read that sentence carefully, because it is easy to misread. This is a monthly national average from the official source. It is not today's pump price, and it is not the price at the station near you. The official statistic we use is published once a month. A website that shows a price "for today" is using a different method, and you should ask what that method is.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2026. Method: how we compile this.
The rest of this article tells you how to use the figure well: what the number means, how the NBS collects it, why the price you pay can be higher or lower, how it has moved over the past months and where to look when you need the price at a particular pump.
Fuel price in Nigeria today: the latest official figure
Nigeria does not set a controlled pump price for petrol. Pricing is left to the market, and the downstream regulator is the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). The official price record comes from the statistics office, which surveys pump prices across the country every month and publishes the national average.
| Month | Average petrol price per litre | Change from the month before |
|---|---|---|
| May 2026 (latest in our data) | ₦1,596.25 | ₦63.32 |
| April 2026 | ₦1,532.93 |
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2026. Method: how we compile this.
We last retrieved the NBS release on 10 Oct 2026. The newest month in our data is May 2026, and the figure for a month appears some weeks after that month ends. This delay is built into the way the statistic is made, and the next section explains why.
How to read the monthly figure
A monthly average is a summary, and a summary hides detail. Here is how to treat it so that it helps you instead of misleading you.
- Read the month, not the date. The figure describes a whole calendar month. The label on the table is the month the survey covers, and a price quoted from it should always carry the month in the sentence.
- Treat it as a national centre point. The NBS figure is an average across places. Some places sit above it and some below it. It tells you roughly where the country was, and it cannot tell you what you will pay.
- Compare month with month. The figure is most useful for direction. If the average rose from one month to the next, pump prices across the country rose on average. The size of the change is usually more useful than the level.
- Do not use it for a receipt. If you are writing an invoice, a contract or a fuel allowance, use the price you actually pay at the pump on the day, and use the NBS average only as a reference.
- Check the freshness. Every figure on this page has the retrieval date next to it. If you see a very different number elsewhere for a recent day, it is probably a daily price from a different source, and the two are not in conflict.
Why the pump price near you is not the same
Petrol in Nigeria is sold at prices that differ by place and by station. There are several reasons, and the first one is the structure of the market itself. Because the market sets the price and there is no government cap, each depot and each station chooses its own price. The downstream regulator oversees the sector, and it is not the source of the figure in our table.
Distance matters. Fuel is cheaper close to the depot and dearer further away, because someone pays to truck it. A station in a state far from a depot will usually charge more than one next door to it.
Type of seller matters. A large urban station, a small independent station and a roadside seller who decants fuel into containers each work with different costs and margins. The average in the table is a mix of what the survey found across the places it visited.
Timing matters too. A price can change within a month. A single monthly figure can hide a fall in the second week or a rise in the third. That is why we call it an average, and why we show you the month it belongs to.
For all these reasons, the number in our table and the number on the board at your station will rarely match, and that is normal.
How the National Bureau of Statistics collects the price
The NBS runs a regular survey of pump prices, published as the PMS Price Watch. PMS stands for premium motor spirit, the technical name for petrol. The survey covers the whole country: our record describes the reference area as National average across all 36 states and the FCT. The result is a single national average for the month.
The release comes out some weeks after the month it covers. Our own record notes the timing as monthly (NBS survey average, published roughly 3 to 8 weeks after month end). So when you look at the statistic, the latest month is always a little in the past. If you see a number labelled "today" and a statistic labelled with a month, you are looking at two different kinds of measure. One is a quick snapshot from a station or an app. The other is a survey average that has been checked and published.
We take the second kind because it is official, it is the same for everyone, and anyone can check it. We link the NBS release for every month in the table so you can open it.
Nigeria petrol price history
Our record holds 18 months of the NBS petrol average, starting with November 2024. The chart shows the series. A month for which the NBS release does not give a figure is left blank on our chart and is not filled in with an estimate.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2026. Method: how we compile this.
The first month in the series shows ₦1,214.17 a litre. The lowest monthly average in our record was ₦970.59, in September 2025. The highest was ₦1,596.25, in May 2026. Compared with the first month, the latest average has changed by 31.50%.
When you read a chart like this, look at the slope and at the turning points, and compare them with events that you know about. A step change over one or two months can follow a change in how the product is priced, in the exchange rate or in supply. A gradual drift looks more like a response to world oil prices. The NBS figures do not explain why prices moved. They only record how far.
What the price means for households and businesses
A national average is a useful input to a household or business budget even though it is not a receipt.
For a household, the price helps you judge whether fuel is taking a larger or smaller share of money than before. For a transport operator, it helps set fares and review whether routes pay. For a business that depends on a generator, it sets the cost of each hour of power. In each case, take the NBS figure as the starting point, and then add your own local premium: ask a driver or a neighbour what they paid this week, and take the difference.
It also helps to look at fuel next to income. The national minimum wage is ₦70,000 a month. At the latest monthly average of ₦1,596.25 a litre, one month of that wage would buy about 44 litres of petrol. Read that as a comparison only, and our article on the minimum wage in Nigeria goes through the law behind that figure.
Where to find the price at a particular pump
If you need the real price for today, the sources are local and informal, and none of them is an official national figure. Look at the board at the station. Ask other drivers who bought fuel nearby this week. Check whether your fleet card or employer's fuel account shows the rate charged. Be careful with websites and apps that show a nationwide price for the day, because they are usually based on a small sample of reports, and the sample may not match your area.
When you quote any figure in writing, say what it is. "The NBS national average for May 2026 was ₦1,596.25 a litre" is accurate. "Petrol costs ₦1,596.25 today" is not, and a careful reader will catch it.
How we present Nigeria's fuel price and what we do not do
We show only figures that come from an official source, and we show them with the period they belong to. For Nigeria that means the NBS monthly average. We do not publish a daily price. We do not estimate the current month before the NBS release exists. We do not collect station prices ourselves for this record, and we do not average anyone's reports.
This is the reason the headline of this article leads with the month. A figure with no month attached invites a reader to treat it as today's price, and it is not.
You can see the same record on the Nigeria fuel price page, and the wider set of countries on the fuel prices tracker. For the economy behind the numbers, our economy section and the Nigeria country page bring together the public data we hold. Developers who want the figures in a spreadsheet or an app can read them through the PollsAfrica API.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fuel price in Nigeria today?
The latest official figure we hold is ₦1,596.25 a litre, the NBS national average for May 2026. It is a monthly average and not the pump price on the day you read this. The price at your station may be higher or lower.
Is this the price I will pay at the pump?
No. It is a national average across many places for a whole month. Your price depends on the state, the town, the station and the week.
Why is the latest month in the past?
The NBS publishes its pump price survey some weeks after the month ends. The newest month in our data is May 2026, and we update the record when the next release is published.
Who sets the petrol price in Nigeria?
The market does. There is no government cap on the pump price of petrol. The downstream regulator is the NMDPRA, and the National Bureau of Statistics records the national average each month.
Why do prices differ between states?
Transport costs, local competition and the type of seller all affect the price. Places far from a depot generally pay more.
Does your table include diesel?
Our Nigeria series covers petrol only, because that is what the monthly NBS release we use reports.
How much did the price change from the month before?
The latest average changed by ₦63.32 from the month before, which was ₦1,532.93.
Where can I download the data?
The record, with a source link for each month, is on the Nigeria fuel price page, and the same data is available through the API.
Ayoola Jegede
Ayoola Jegede founded PollsAfrica and leads it as director. He is a PMP-certified programme leader and a member of World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) and American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). ayoolajegede.com