Nigeria’s National Average Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) per adult per day drastically decreased to N1,255 in August. This marks a 0.8% decline from N1,265 recorded in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS released its CoHD report, emphasizing the figure represents the least expensive combination of locally available food items meeting global dietary guidelines. South-West region recorded the highest average cost at N1,554 per adult per day, followed by South-South at N1,381. North-West posted the lowest cost at N1,014 per day.
Ogun led with the highest CoHD at N1,641, followed by Lagos at N1,615 and Rivers at N1,572. Katsina recorded the lowest CoHD at N880, followed by Kaduna at N951 and Sokoto at N980. The CoHD rose 28% over six months, driven by rising prices of legumes, nuts, seeds, starchy staples, and vegetables.
August saw a 14.5% decline in vegetable prices, contributing to the slight drop in CoHD. Animal-source foods remained the most expensive, making up 37% of total CoHD, while contributing only 13% of total calories.
Legumes, nuts, and seeds were the least expensive, accounting for just 7% of the total cost. The CoHD has risen faster than general inflation and food inflation, but NBS noted that CoHD and food CPI are not directly comparable..