Suara Sherif
Nigerian consumers and businesses are reeling from an 86 percent surge in fuel prices within just eight months, as petrol and diesel climbed to their highest levels of 2026, according to a new price trend report.
The report by priceandpromo revealed that the average price of petrol rose to N1,378 per litre by September 22, while diesel climbed to N1,899 per litre, the peak averages recorded for both products this year.
Petrol recorded an 80.8 percent increase from its January 13 base, while diesel surged 91.8 percent over the same period.
The combined average increase stands at 86.3 percent, rounding to 86 percent.
The trajectory tells its own story.
After a sharp March spike, prices stabilised at elevated levels between April and July.
Then came August and September, and with them, a renewed upward climb that has left consumers bracing for more.
“The renewed increase comes amid heightened global energy-market volatility, highlighting the domestic market’s continued exposure to shifts in international energy costs,” the report stated.
That exposure carries weight.
Petrol and diesel are the arteries of Nigeria’s transportation and logistics sectors.
When their prices rise, the cost of moving people and goods rises with them, and the ripple effects travel straight to the pocketbooks of everyday Nigerians.
“The renewed increase in both petrol and diesel is therefore an important market signal to watch, particularly for its potential implications for mobility, logistics costs and the wider cost of moving goods through the market,” the report added.
Notably, diesel has taken the harder hit, its 91.8 percent surge outpacing petrol’s 80.8 percent rise.
For businesses that depend on diesel generators to keep the lights on, the burden is doubly crushing.
For households already squeezed by high food and transport costs, the fuel price surge is another blow.
And with global energy markets still volatile, the question hanging over Nigeria is as simple as it is uncomfortable: how much higher can these prices go?
