NBS Report: Cost of Nutritious Food Soars by 32% Amid Hardship

The average cost per day of buying healthful food went from N786 in December 2023 to N1,041 in May 2024, a 32 percent rise.

This was revealed in the most recent Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) report for May 2024, which the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Friday in Abuja.

A nutritious meal, on the other hand, was reported to have cost N1,035 in April of 2024, a slight increase of 1% in May 2024, according to the research.

“This represents the lower bound (or floor) of the daily cost per adult, exclusive of transportation and meal preparation expenses.”

Ebonyi, Abia, and Anambra had the highest CoHD at N1,225, N1,215, and N1,205, respectively, according to a state-by-state study in the report

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According to the NBS, Yobe and Katsina recorded N906, Jigawa recorded N899, and Kano had the lowest CoHD at N898.

According to a zonal research, the South-West has the highest daily cost of a nutritious diet at N1,189 per adult, followed by the South-East at N1,190.

On the other hand, the North-West region had the lowest average CoHD, at N919 per adult per day.

According to the NBS, CoHD has risen consistently since the Bureau’s initial CoHD report in October 2023.

“Legumes, nuts and seeds, animal source foods, and starchy staples have been the main contributors to the increases in CoHD.”

Conversely, fruits and vegetables saw the least amount of month-over-month price increases, according to the survey.

This development coincides with the 17th increase in food inflation, which reached 40.66 percent in May 2024.