The number of electricity consumers rose by 240,000 from 11.47 million in the second quarter of 2023 to 11.71 million in the third quarter of 2023.

The National Bureau of Statistics stated in its Nigeria’s electricity report for the third quarter of 2023 released in Abuja on Thursday, noting that the increase was by 2.08 per cent.

The review focuses on energy billed, revenue generated, and customers by DISCOs under the reviewed period.

It stated that on a year-on-year basis, the number of electricity customers increased by 7.09 per cent in Q3 2023 from 10.94 million reported in Q3 2022.

It said Q3 2023, the number of metered customers stood at 5.68 million from the 5.47 million recorded in Q2 2023, which indicated a 3.77 per cent increase.

“On a year-on-year basis, the figure grew by 13.07 per cent from the 5.02 million reported in Q3 2022,” the NBS stated.

Similarly, estimated electricity customers stood at 6.03 in Q3 2023, showing an increase of 0.53 per cent over the six million recorded in Q2 2023.

“On a year-on-year basis, estimated customers increased by 2.02 per cent in Q3 2023 from the 5.91 million recorded in Q3 2022,” it stated.

The NBS also said that electricity distribution companies collected N260.16 billion in revenue in Q3 2023 compared to the N263.08 billion they collected in Q2 2023.

It added that on a year-on-year basis, revenue collected rose by 28.40 per cent over the N202.62 billion collected in the third quarter of 2022.

It stated that electricity supply dropped to 5,731.60 (Gwh) in the third quarter of 2023 from 5,909.83 (Gwh) recorded in the second quarter of the year.

However, the report said on a year-on-year basis, electricity supply increased by 14.09 per cent in Q3 2023 compared with the 5,023.96 (Gwh) reported in Q2 2022.

(NAN)