Prices of food items have gone up again according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals increase in the average price of some selected food items including the white beans which average price rose by 23.22 per cent in one year.
The price was N444.21 in July 2021 but has now risen to N547.38 in July 2022.
The NBS in its Selected Food Prices Watch Report for July 2022 released Monday, showed that on a month-on-month basis, the price of white beans increased by 2.09 per cent from N536.17 in June 2022 to N547.38 in July 2022.
Marcel Okeke, former Chief Economist of one of Nigeria’s top banks, Zenith Bank, said that while government officials may attribute the increase in the cost of foodstuffs to the impact of the pandemic, the major factors for the increase are insecurity and high foreign exchange rates due to the low value of the natiin’s currency.
The country has faced increased banditry and kidnapping activities especially in the Northern region where many of the food items are grown, and this has adversely impacted the country’s ability to feed her citizen.
For instance, about a hundred groups of bandits with over 30,000 militants are operating in the northwest, killing, maiming, and kidnapping innocent citizens and residents of the region, according to the Centre of Democracy and Development for West Africa in a report released in April.
The NBS report shows average price of 1kg of tomatoes increased on a year-on-year basis by 7.71 per cent from N414.83 in July 2021 to N446.81 in July 2022.
Other items covered by the NBS report include beef which average price of 1kg in July 2022 stood at N2,118.84, from N1,660.76 of July 2021, indicating an increase of 27.58 per cent.
The NBS also stated that average price of a bottle of groundnut oil stood at N1,078.17 in July 2022, showing an increase of 40.24 per cent from N768.81 in July 2021.
It added that the average price of 1kg of local rice increased on a year-on-year basis by 13.55 per cent from N411.97 in July 2021 to N467.80 in July 2022.
The average price of one bottle of palm oil stood at N890.67 in July 2022, showing an increase of 40.19 per cent from the N635.31 recorded in July 2021.
State-by-State analysis showed that Ebonyi recorded the highest average price of 1kg of white beans in July 2022 at N900.51, while the lowest price was recorded in Borno at N317.73.
The report stated that the highest average price of 1kg of tomato was recorded in Edo at N799.16, while the lowest was recorded in Taraba at N159.14.
Similarly, Rivers recorded the highest price of 1kg of local rice at N619.62, while the lowest was recorded in Jigawa at N363.34.
Analysis by zones showed that the Southeast recorded the highest average price of brown beans at N853.19 per kilogramme, followed by the Southwest at N598.00, while the Northeast recorded the least at N379.03.
The Southeast recorded the highest average price of tomato at N678.80, per kilogramme, followed by the Northwest at N656.93, while the lowest was recorded in the Northeast at N194.72.
The NBS stated that the average price of 1kg of local rice in the Northwest was N796.03, representing the highest recorded in July 2022, followed by the Southwest at N519.64.
The North Central recorded the lowest price for 1kg of local rice at N401.72, it stated.
Comments are closed.