Nigerian rail transport Usage falls by 53% in Q1 2023, leading to sharp decline of 63% in passenger

Rail transport usage in Nigeria experienced a significant decline of 53.65% in the first quarter of 2023, as the number of passengers dropped from 953,099 in Q4 2022 to 441,725 in the latest quarter, according to the Rail Transportation Data report released by Nigeria’s Bureau of Statistics.

The report also revealed a substantial decrease of 63.02% in passenger revenue during the same period. However, there was a notable increase of 99.28% in revenue from goods and cargo. These statistics shed light on the challenges faced by the rail sector in Nigeria and its impact on passenger travel and revenue generation.

Falling passenger numbers & increased tonnage
The report noted that -53.65%, however, the number of goods transported increased for the period, said:

“The rail transportation data for Q1 2023 showed that a total of 441,725 passengers travelled via the rail system in Q1 2023, lower than the 953,099 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, representing a growth rate of -53.65%.

“In addition, 59,966 tons of goods were transported in Q1 2023, compared to 39,379 tons reported in Q1 2022.”
Revenue
The passenger revenue growth was also 63% lower than the previous periods, however, the revenue from goods/cargo, was up by 99.28%, they said:

“In terms of revenue generation, N768.44 million was received from passengers over the period, lower by 63.02% relative to N2.08 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

“Similarly, N181.27 million was collected in Q1 2023 as revenue from goods/cargos, up by 99.28% from N90.96 million received in Q1 2022.
“In addition, other receipts amounted to N34.17 million, indicating a decline of 41.02% in Q1 2023, from the N57.92 million collected in Q1 2022.”

Reasons for reduced growth

Nigerians in the first quarter of the year had to contend with the naira scarcity as a result of the naira redesign which slowed economic growth for the period.

Company Income Tax also fell as much as 37.79% on a quarter-on-quarter basis from N753.88 billion in Q4 2022 to N469.01 billion in Q1 2023.

Backstory

The number of passengers rose by 30.10% to 1.34 million persons in Q4 2022 as Revenue generated from passengers stood at N1.15 billion, a decrease of 39.54% from Q4 2021 when N1.91 billion was reported.

Revenue generated from goods in Q4 2022 was N157.23 million, higher by 63.56% compared to N96.13 million reported in Q4 2022.