Food inflation persists as NBS reports increases for food staples in April 2024

Business a.m.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that prices of common food items, such as rice, garri, tomato, beans, yam, and others, experienced an upward trend in April 2024.

According to the agency’s recent Selected Food Prices Watch report, there was a general rise in prices of the listed food items in the month under review.

According to the NBS Selected Food Prices Watch report, the average price of a kilogramme of locally produced rice rose 155.93 percent, from N546.76 in April 2023 to N1,399.34 in April 2024, representing a significant increase in the cost of the staple food item.The report also noted a month-on-month increase of 3.47 percent in April, from the recorded price of N1,340.74 in March 2024.

The report further revealed that the average price of 1kg of white garri saw a significant year-on-year increase of 134.98 per cent, from the recorded price of N362.50 in April 2023 to N851.81 in April 2024.

The month-on-month analysis of the price of white garri in April also demonstrated a sharp rise of 13.59 per cent, compared to the recorded price of N749.89 in March 2024.

The NBS report also noted an increase in the price of tomatoes, with a year-on-year rise of 131.58 percent, from the recorded price of N485.10 in April 2023 to N1,123.41 in April 2024.

On a month-to-month basis, the price of tomatoes also saw a jump of 17.06 percent in April, up from the recorded price of N959.68 in March 2024.

The NBS report highlighted a significant rise in the price of brown beans on both a year-on-year and month-on-month basis.

The average price of 1kg of brown beans soared by 125.43 per cent from N615.65 in April 2023 to N1,387.90 in April 2024. The increase was further exacerbated by a month-on-month rise of 12.44 per cent from the recorded price of N1,234.40 in March 2024.

Adding to the previous data on food prices, the NBS report noted a sharp increase in the price of yam tubers, with a year-on-year rise of 154.19 per cent from the recorded price of N444.69 in April 2023 to N1,130.37 in April 2024.

The report’s state-wise analysis of food prices revealed significant variations across different regions.

In terms of local rice, Niger had the highest average price of 1kg at N1,785.47, whereas Benue had the lowest at N993.72.

For white garri, the highest average price of 1kg was recorded in Bayelsa at N1,095.26, while the lowest was recorded in Benue at N494.47.

In terms of tomatoes, Delta recorded the highest average price of 1kg at N1,851.19, whereas Zamfara had the lowest price at N547.22.

Regarding brown beans, Abuja had the highest average price of 1kg at N2,288.36, while Yobe had the lowest price at N818.03. Cross River recorded the highest average price of 1kg of yam tuber at N 1,797.15, while the least average price was recorded in Bauchi at N638.64.

The findings revealed that the South-West zone had the highest average price of 1kg of local rice at N1,615.21, followed closely by the South-South zone at N1,564.85. The North-West zone recorded the lowest average price of local rice at N1,163.13.The South-South and South-West recorded the highest average price of 1kg of white garri at N1,031.19 and N 982.42, respectively, while the lowest price was in the North-West at N681.77.

The South-South zone had the highest average price of 1kg at N1,689.40, followed by the South-West zone at N1,429.06. The North-West zone had the lowest average price of tomatoes at N615.54

The North-Central zone and the South-South zone recorded the highest average price of 1kg of brown beans at N1,594.84 and N1,579.64, respectively. In contrast, the North-West zone recorded the lowest average price of 1kg of brown beans at N966.9