NBS releases Food Cost for April

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that prices of food items rose the most in Kebbi, Ekiti and Kano in April.

The Bureau made this known in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday.

The report shows that on a month-to-month basis, food inflation in Kebbi rose by 2.46 percent, Ekiti at 2.42 percent and Kano at 2.17 percent.

Abuja recorded the lowest at 0.05 percent in month-to-month food inflation while Rivers and Ogun recorded price deflation (a general decrease in the general price level of food or a negative food inflation rate).

The report further read that food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi at 30.52 percent, Eboni at 28.07 percent and Sokoto at 26.90 percent.

Abuja recorded at 18.63 percent, Akwa Ibom at 18.95 percent, Bauchi at 17.64 percent are the three states with the slowest rise in year-on-year inflation.

The composite food index increased by 22.72 percent in April compared to 22.95 percent in March 2021, the report stated in part.

It further revealed that inflation in the food index was caused by increases in prices of coffee, tea and cocoa, bread and cereals, soft drinks, milk, cheese and eggs, vegetable, meat, oils and fats, fish and potatoes, yams and other tubers.

On a month-to-month basis, the food sub-index inflated by 0.99 percent in April 2021, down by 0.91 percent from 1.90 percent recorded in March 2021.

“The average annual rate change of the Food sub-index for the twelve months ending April 2021 over the previous twelve-month average was 18.58 percent, 0.65 percent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2021 at 17.93 percent,” the NBS reported.

The Bureau further revealed that volatile agricultural produce stood at 12.74 percent in April up by 0.07 percent when compared with 12.67 percent recorded in March 2021.