The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its latest report that the national average cost of a healthy diet (CoHD) was N982 per adult per day in March 2024.
The report entitled ‘Cost of a healthy diet March 2024’ released by the bureau yesterday, stated that the average CoHD was highest in the South-west southwest N1, 198 per adult per day during the period in review, compared to N787 per adult per day in the northwest.
The report explained that the CoHD is the least expensive combination of locally available items that meet globally consistent food-based dietary guidelines.
It further said the parameter is used as a measure of physical and economic access to healthy diets. This, it said, is a lower bound (or floor) of the cost per adult per day excluding the cost of transportation and meal preparation.
“The national average cost of a healthy diet was N982 per adult per day in March 2024. At the State level Ekiti, Lagos and Abia States recorded the highest cost 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, at the Zonal level, the average CoHD was highest in the South West Zone at N1198 per day, followed by the South East Zone with N1140 per day. The lowest average Cost of a Healthy diet was recorded in the North-west Zone with N787 per day,” NBS said.
According to the bureau, animal-source foods were the most expensive food group recommendation to meet in March, accounting for 37 per cent of the total CoHD to provide 13 per cent of the total calories.
It said fruits and vegetables were the most expensive food groups in terms of price per calorie; they accounted for 12 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, of total CoHD while providing only 7 per cent and 5 per cent of total calories in the healthy diet basket.
It added that legumes, nuts and seeds were the least-expensive food group on average, at 6 per cent of the total cost.
According to the report, the food inflation rate in March 2024 quickened to 40.01 per cent on a year-on-year basis, 15.56 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in March 2023 (24.45 per cent).
It further said the CoHD rose faster than general inflation and food inflation.
However, it noted the CoHD and the Food Consumer Price Index (CPI) are not directly comparable, saying CoHD includes fewer items and is measured in Naira per day, while the food CPI is a weighted index.
“CoHD has steadily increased since the first CoHD report by NBS (October 2023). The CoHD in March 2024 is 40 per cent higher than in October 2023 (N703) and 5 per cent higher than the CoHD in February 2024, which was N938.
“The food groups that have driven the increases in CoHD the most are vegetables, starchy staples, and fruits. The cost of meeting the recommendations for oil and fats has changed the least,” it said.
The NBS said in March 2024, Ekiti (urban) had the most expensive CoHD at N1406 per adult per day, while the least expensive location was Kwara (urban) with CoHD at N662.
It said while there were similarities in the least-cost items like palm oil, avocado pear, coconut, bitter leaf, and soya beans in March, the cost per food was different in these locations because of underlying price differences.
“Most of the food groups had different least-cost items as well; for example cassava flour was the most expensive starchy staple in Ekiti (Urban), compared with garri white grains in Kwara (Urban).”
The NBS noted that the CoHD provides important information about food access, a key aspect of food security, which is useful for government, civil society and development partners, private sector, and researchers.
