KEY POINTS
- Nigeria recorded the world’s steepest petrol price increase at 39.5 percent between February 23 and March 16.
- Pump prices now range between N1,130 and N1,350 per litre across the country.
- Dangote Refinery raised its ex-gantry price to N1,175 per litre on March 13.
No country in the world saw petrol prices climb faster than Nigeria between late February and mid-March 2026, as the Middle East conflict triggered what analysts describe as the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.
The Nigeria petrol price hike global analysis, drawn from Global Petrol Prices data and reported by TheCable, shows Nigeria recorded a 39.5 percent jump in pump prices between February 23 and March 16. Laos ranked second with a 32.9 percent rise, while Australia and Vietnam each posted 31.8 percent increases and the United States recorded a 23.6 percent rise. At the other end of the table, South Africa saw just a 1 percent increase and Mexico 0.5 percent.
Dangote refinery not insulated from global trends
Pump prices in Nigeria now range between N1,130 and N1,350 per litre depending on location and marketer. NNPCL-affiliated outlets sell at approximately N1,130 in Lagos and as high as N1,261 in parts of Abuja. Major marketers in Abuja and surrounding areas charge between N1,267 and N1,330 per litre, while independent marketers in some regions have pushed prices to N1,350.
The Nigeria petrol price hike global ranking exposes the limits of domestic refining as a price stabiliser in a globally integrated oil market. Dangote Refinery acknowledged as early as March 9 that it sources crude based on international benchmarks and cannot shield its pricing from external market forces. On March 13, the refinery further raised its ex-gantry price for Premium Motor Spirit to N1,175 per litre, a move that fed through to retail prices nationwide.
The war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran has pushed crude oil to a four-year high, compressing the advantage that local refining capacity was expected to provide Nigerian consumers. Higher crude input costs translate directly into higher ex-gantry prices, which then compound at the retail level through transport costs and marketer margins.
How Nigeria compares to other major markets
Among other economies tracked in the analysis, Spain recorded an 18.7 percent increase, Canada 17.2 percent, Germany 14.9 percent, and France 12.3 percent. While China saw a 10 percent rise, the United Kingdom 6.5 percent, and the UAE 6.4 percent.
Nigeria’s 39.5 percent increase nearly doubles the second-highest figure in the dataset, a gap that reflects both the country’s heavier exposure to global crude price swings and the structural fragility of its downstream fuel market.
