The cost of healthy diet (CoHD) increased by 47 percent to N1,265 per adult per day in July 2024, up from N858 in January 2024. The National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) CoHD data, released today, showed that the CoHD climbed by 2.0 percent month on month from N1,241 per adult per day in June 2024.
According to NBS, the constant growth in CoHD was caused by increases in the prices of vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, and starchy staples. NBS stated that the national average cost of a healthy diet was N1,265 per adult per day in July 2024. “The cost of a healthy diet (CoHD) has been progressively growing for the previous six (6) months, beginning in February 2024.
“In July 2024, the CoHD was 35% higher than in February 2024 (N934).” It was also 2.0 percent more than the June 2024 cost (N1,241).
“Vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, and starchy staples are the primary causes of this increase in CoHD. “Animal-source foods were the most expensive food category recommendation to meet in July, accounting for 36% of total CoHD and providing 13% of total calories.
“Fruits and vegetables were the most expensive food groups in terms of price per calorie, accounting for 10% and 17%, respectively, of total CoHD despite delivering just 7.0 and 5.0 percent of total calories in the Healthy Diet Basket.
“Legumes, nuts and seeds were the least-expensive food group on average, at 7.0 percent of the total cost.” The bureau stated that in Nigeria, CoHD is the least cost of foods required to meet worldwide recommendations specified in the Healthy Diet Basket (HDB), a globally relevant collection of criteria that captures similarities across most national food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs).
It added: “At the state level, Ekiti, Ogun, and Osun had the highest cost with N1,632, N1,612, and N1,611, respectively.
” Katsina, Adamawa, and Sokoto had the lowest costs at N884, N914, and N927. “At the zonal level, the South West Zone had the highest average CoHD at N1,581 per day, followed by the SouthSouth Zone at N1,487 per day. “The lowest average Cost of a Healthy diet was recorded in the North West Zone with N956 per day.”
