In the third quarter of 2023, the number of electricity consumers in Nigeria witnessed a notable increase, rising by 240,000 to reach 11.71 million, representing a growth of 2.08% from the previous quarter’s figure of 11.47 million. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released this information in its third-quarter report on Nigeria’s electricity sector in Abuja on Thursday.
The year-on-year comparison revealed a substantial uptick in electricity customers, with a 7.09% increase from Q3 2022’s 10.94 million consumers. In terms of metered customers, the figure stood at 5.68 million in Q3 2023, marking a 3.77% increase from the 5.47 million recorded in Q2 2023. On a yearly basis, this indicated a robust growth of 13.07% from Q3 2022’s 5.02 million metered customers.
For estimated electricity customers, Q3 2023 saw a figure of 6.03 million, reflecting a 0.53% increase compared to the six million recorded in the second quarter. Year-on-year, estimated customers grew by 2.02% in Q3 2023 from the 5.91 million recorded in the same period of 2022.
In terms of revenue collection by electricity distribution companies (DISCOS), Q3 2023 witnessed a collection of N260.16 billion, a slight decrease from the N263.08 billion collected in Q2 2023. However, on a year-on-year basis, there was a notable surge of 28.40% compared to the N202.62 billion collected in the third quarter of 2022.
While electricity supply recorded a decline to 5,731.60 Gwh in Q3 2023 from 5,909.83 Gwh in Q2, the year-on-year comparison showed a positive trend with a 14.09% increase compared to the 5,023.96 Gwh reported in Q2 2022.