The National Bureau of Statistics yesterday said that the surge in prices of food items continued in April, with the average price of five basic foods items recorded 140.4 per cent, Year-on-Year (YoY) increase during the month.
The five food items are local rice, garri white, tomatoes, beans brown and yam. The report said: “Selected Food Price Watch for April 2024 shows that the average price of 1kg Rice local sold loose stood at N1,399.34. This indicates a rise of 155.93% in price on a year-on-year basis from 546.76 recorded in April 2023 and 3.47% rise in price on a month-on-month basis from N1,340.74 in March 2024.”
“The average price of 1kg of Garri white, sold loose increased by 134.98% on a year-on-year basis from N 362.50 in April of last year (2023) to N 851.81 in April 2024. On a month-on-month basis, the average price of this item increased by 13.59% from N749.89 in March 2024.” “The average price of 1kg of Tomato rose by 131.58% on a year-on-year basis from N485.10 in April 2023 to N1,123.41 in April 2024. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 17.06% from N959.68 in March 2024. Furthermore, the average price of 1kg beans brown (sold loose) rose by 125.43% on a year-on-year basis from N615.67 in April 2023 to N1387.90 in April 2024, while there was an increase of 12.44% on a month-on-month basis.”
