‘S’South, N’Central paid more amid spike in prices of yam, garri, beans’

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest ‘Selected Food Prices Watch’ report for July 2024, said while the prices increased year-on-year for some food items, there was a marginal drop month-on-month.

According to the report, the average price of 1kg of brown beans (sold loose) stood at N2,444.81 in July, a 262.98 per cent price increase on a year-on-year basis from N673.53 recorded in July 2023.

On a month-on-month basis, the average price rose by 6.63 per cent from N2,292.76 in June 2024.

The data body said eggs medium size (12 pieces) experienced a significant price increase year-on-year to N2,170.17 in July 2024 from N1,006.64 in July of last year (2023) and N1,935.69 in June this year.

“On a month-on-month basis, the average price of this item rose by 12.11 per cent from N1,935.69 in June 2024,” the NBS added.

It said there was a notable increase in the price of 1kg of tomato by 203.57 per cent on a year-on-year basis, from N557.96 in July 2023 to N1,693.83 in July 2024.

Based on the state profile analysis, the report showed that the highest average price of 1kg of brown beans (sold loose) was recorded in Rivers State at N3,070.96 while the lowest was in Adamawa at N1,532.23.

“The highest average price of 1kg of tomato was recorded in Osun at N3,000 while the lowest was in Kaduna at N761.45,” NBS said. “Regarding the average price of 1kg of yam tuber, Kwara recorded the highest price at N3,894.08 while Adamawa recorded the lowest price at N742.95. Gombe recorded the highest average price of 1kg white garri (sold loose) at N1,624.72 while the lowest was reported in Taraba at N892.98.”

Also, analysis by zone showed that the average price of bean brown (sold loose) was highest in the South-South at N3,032.86, followed by the North Central at N2,869.95 while the North West recorded the lowest average price at N1,732.71.