Breakfast menu going out of reach as prices of eggs, milk hit record high

The prices of common breakfast meals such as bread, egg and milk have skyrocketed over the past year, a BusinessDay analysis shows.

According to the selected food prices report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the average price of a medium sized egg increased by 37.4 percent to N75.1 in September 2022 from N54.6 in the same period of last year, the price of a 170g tinned (peak) milk also rose by 36.3 percent to N295.3 and a 500g unsliced bread jumped by 35.7 percent with an average price of N478.0.

There was also over 30 percent jump in the prices of vegetable oil, palm oil, yam, tomatoes, Titus, sweet potatoes, onion and mud dried fish.

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Nigeria’s food inflation rate soared to 23.34 percent in September from 16.63 percent in September 2021, according to the NBS. The increase is the seventh consecutive monthly and the rate is the highest in 17 years.

NBS attributed the increase to the disruption in the supply of food products, an increase in import cost due to the persistent currency depreciation, and a general increase in the cost of production.

The report also highlighted states and regions where these food items were the most expensive. In the report, 10 of the food items were highlighted based on their price in the five regions of Nigeria, five of 10 of these items were most expensive in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. These items include beans, beef, bread, palm oil, and wheat flour.