The Cost of a Healthy Diet, CoHD, rose by 47 percent to N1,265 per adult per day in July 2024 from N858 per adult per day in January 2024.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, CoHD report released today showed that month-on-month the CoHD increased by 2.0 percent from N1,241 per adult per day in June 2024.
According to NBS, the continuous rise in CoHD was due to increase in the prices of vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, and starchy staples.
NBS said: “The National average Cost of a Healthy Diet was N1,265 per adult per day in July 2024.
“The Cost of Healthy Diet (CoHD) has been steadily rising over the past six (6) months, since February 2024.
“In July 2024, the CoHD was 35 percent higher than it was in February 2024 (N934). It was also 2.0 percent higher than the cost in June 2024 (N1,241).
“The main drivers of this increase in CoHD are vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, and starchy staples.
“Animal source foods were the most expensive food group recommendation to meet in July, accounting for 36 percent of the total CoHD to provide 13 percent of the total calories.
“Fruits and vegetables were the most expensive food groups in terms of price per calorie; they accounted for 10 percent and 17 percent, respectively, of total CoHD while providing only 7.0 percent 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 noted that in Nigeria, CoHD is the minimum cost of foods needed to meet international recommendations defined in the Healthy Diet Basket (HDB), a globally relevant set of criteria that captures similarities across most national Food
Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG).
It added: “At the State level Ekiti, Ogun and Osun States recorded the highest cost with N1,632, N1,612, and N1,611 respectively.
“ Katsina, Adamawa and Sokoto accounted for the lowest costs with N884, N914 and N927.
“At the Zonal level, the average CoHD was highest in the South West Zone at N1,581 per day, followed by SouthSouth Zone with N1,487 per day.
“The lowest average Cost of a Healthy diet was recorded in the North West Zone with N956 per day.”
