Average price of rice rises by 0.65%  —  NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that the average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality sold loose) increased year-on-year by 17.46per cent and month-on-month by 0.65per cent to N544.09 in May 2021 from N540.58 in April 2021.

NBS in its “selected food price” data for May 2021 reflected that the average price of 1 dozen of Agric eggs medium size increased year-on-year by 17.10per cent and month-on month by 2.10per cent to N541.53 in May 2021 from N530.40 in April 2021.

The report by NBS stated that the average price of piece of Agric eggs medium size (price of one) increased year-on-year by 22.41per cent and month-on-month by 1.72per cent to N49.99 in May 2021 from N49.14 in April 2021.

The average price of 1kg of tomato increased year-on-year by 9.09per cent and month-on-month by 9.47per cent to N303.51 in May 2021 from N277.26 in April 2021.

Similarly, the average price of 1kg of yam tuber increased year-on-year by 13.96per cent and month on month by 6.80per cent to N269.98 in May 2021 from N252.80 in April 2021.

Food inflation rose to 22.28per cent in May, caused by wide-ranging price increases across items such as cereals, yam, meat, fish and fruits. Those soaring costs have been in part blamed on a worsening conflict between farmers and herders in Nigeria’s agriculture belt that Buhari has struggled to quash.

The unrest, combined with the more than decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in the north, a weakening currency and higher fuel prices have also contributed to rising food prices, according to SBM Intelligence, a Nigerian research firm.

Rising inflation has adversely affected the profitability of producers and is a major contributor to the low export penetration of made-in-Nigeria goods in the international market, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria said in a statement.