Cost of healthy diet in Nigeria up N982 in March – NBS

The nationalist mean outgo of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) was N982 per big per time successful March 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

The statistic bureau successful its study titled “Cost of a Healthy Diet March 2024” published connected its website, said this is 4.7 per cent higher than the magnitude recorded successful the erstwhile period (N938 successful February).

The bureau said successful March 2024, the mean CoHD was highest successful the South-west astatine N1,198 per big per day, compared to N787 per big per time successful the North-west.

The study said CoHD is the slightest costly operation of locally disposable items that conscionable globally accordant food-based dietary guidelines.

It explained that it is utilized arsenic a measurement of carnal and economical entree to steadfast diets. This, it said, is simply a little bound (or floor) of the outgo per big per time excluding the outgo of proscription and repast preparation.

“The National Average Cost of a Healthy Diet was N982 per big per time successful March 2024. At the State level Ekiti, Lagos and Abia States recorded the highest outgo with N1330, N1249, and N1215 respectively. Katsina accounted for the lowest costs with N739, followed by Sokoto and Zamfara with N758 and N766, respectively.

“Lastly, astatine the Zonal level, the mean CoHD was highest successful the South West Zone astatine N1198 per day, followed by the South East Zone with N1140 per day. The lowest mean Cost of a Healthy fare was recorded successful the North-west Zone with N787 per day,” NBS said.

Cost stock by nutrient group

According to the bureau, animal-source foods were the astir costly nutrient radical proposal to conscionable successful March, accounting for 37 per cent of the full CoHD to supply 13 per cent of the full calories.

It said fruits and vegetables were the astir costly nutrient groups successful presumption of terms per calorie; they accounted for 12 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, of full CoHD portion providing lone 7 per cent and 5 per cent of full calories successful the Healthy Diet Basket.

It added that legumes, nuts and seeds were the least-expensive nutrient radical connected average, astatine 6 per cent of the full cost.

In caller years, nutrient prices person been connected the emergence crossed Nigeria. The concern deteriorated owed to the interaction of authorities policies specified arsenic the removal of subsidies connected petrol, among others.

The upward inclination successful the prices of these staples and different products has weakened the purchasing powerfulness of galore citizens, making it hard for galore households successful the state to spend regular meals.

Nigeria’s yearly ostentation complaint roseate to 33.20 per cent successful March from 31.70 per cent successful February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said successful its latest ostentation report.

According to the report, the nutrient ostentation complaint successful March 2024 quickened to 40.01 per cent connected a year-on-year basis, 15.56 per cent points higher than the complaint recorded successful March 2023 (24.45 per cent).

On Thursday, the statistic bureau said the CoHD has risen faster than wide ostentation and nutrient inflation.

However, it noted the CoHD and the Food Consumer Price Index (CPI) are not straight comparable; the CoHD includes less items and is measured successful Naira per day, portion the nutrient CPI is simply a weighted index.

“CoHD has steadily accrued since the archetypal CoHD study by NBS (October 2023). The CoHD successful March 2024 is 40 per cent higher than successful October 2023 (N703) and 5 per cent higher than the CoHD successful February 2024, which was N938.

“The nutrient groups that person driven the increases successful CoHD the astir are vegetables, starchy staples, and fruits. The outgo of gathering the recommendations for lipid and fats person changed the least,” it said.

In the past year, the NBS said the CoHD and the outgo of each different goods and services accrued astatine astir the aforesaid rate, until July 2023, erstwhile CoHD accrued astatine a faster complaint than each goods and services (general CPI) and much than each foods for which retail prices are collected.

The NBS said successful March 2024, Ekiti (Urban) had the astir costly Cost of a Healthy Diet astatine N1406 per big per day, portion the slightest costly determination was Kwara (Urban) with CoHD astatine N662.

It said portion determination were similarities successful the least-cost point successful March (e.g. Palm Oil, Avocado Pear, Coconut, Bitter leaf, and Soya beans), the outgo per nutrient was antithetic successful these locations due to the fact that of underlying terms differences.

“Most of the nutrient groups had antithetic least-cost items arsenic well; for illustration cassava flour was the astir costly starchy staple successful Ekiti (Urban), compared with garri achromatic grains successful Kwara (Urban).”

The NBS noted that the Cost of a Healthy Diet provides important accusation astir nutrient access, a cardinal facet of nutrient security, which is utile for government, civilian nine and improvement partners, backstage sector, and researchers.

For instance, it said wherever the Cost of a Healthy Diet is high, it is imaginable to place which least-cost items and nutrient groups are driving the precocious cost.

Stakeholders tin place proviso challenges successful circumstantial foods oregon nutrient groups to beryllium addressed, for illustration with improved production, distribution, oregon marketplace access.

“These results tin besides foster collaboration among a wide scope of stakeholders, specified arsenic policymakers, researchers and civilian nine actors that absorption connected nutrient security, to devise strategies that tackle access, availability, and affordability of steadfast fare effectively.

“Future probe incorporating income tin besides beryllium utilized to find the proportionality and fig of the colonisation that are incapable to spend a steadfast diet,” it said.

The study said the retail nutrient terms information utilized successful this investigation is collected by the NBS monthly from 10,534 informants dispersed crossed the country, from municipality and agrarian outlets successful each authorities and FCT.

“NBS collects these prices routinely for monitoring inflation, including prices of implicit 200 retail nutrient items. Nearly 150 of these nutrient items are perchance included successful a steadfast fare and the terms information for these items are utilized for the computation of the CoHD.

READ ALSO: Cost of steadfast fare highest successful South-west successful February – NBS

“In Nigeria, CoHD is the minimum outgo of foods needed to conscionable planetary recommendations defined successful the Healthy Diet Basket (HDB), a globally applicable acceptable of criteria that captures similarities crossed astir nationalist food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG).

“The HDB was created arsenic a comparable modular to cipher and comparison the outgo and affordability of steadfast diets crossed countries; the HDB is astir applicable for countries wherever determination is not yet a quantified nationalist FBDG, similar Nigeria,” it said.