Food, fare prices spike, put more Nigerians under pressure

The soaring prices of food and fare have put more pressure on the already struggling households, who have seen their incomes shrink due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the removal of fuel subsidies, and the continued depreciation of the naira.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the fares for buses, taxis, motorcycles, and bicycles, as well as the prices of food items such as beef, rice, beans, yam, garri, tomatoes, and others, rose sharply in August.

The NBS said that from August 2022 to August 2023, the average price of 1kg of boneless beef went up by 30.75 percent to N2,799.51, while the average price of 1kg of local rice soared by 62.68 percent to N738.74. The average price of 1kg of brown beans also increased by 27 percent to N692.95, and the average price of 1kg of yam tuber rose by 42.80 percent to N576.39.