The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Selected Food Prices Watch for June 2024 indicates a significant increase in food prices across the country, further highlighting worsening welfare for Nigerians.
The price of 1kg of locally produced brown beans rose to N2,292.76, marking a 14.11 percent month-on-month (MoM) increase from N2009.23 in May 2024.
Similarly, 1kg of tomatoes rose to N2,302.26, indicating a 55.59 percent MoM increase from N1,479.69. Irish potatoes experienced a 51.92 percent MoM rise, reaching N2,423.27 from N1,595.07, while the price of a tuber of yam rose to an average of N2,021.55, a 52.87 percent increase from N1,322.36 in May.
The increase in food prices is a key driver of inflation in the country and is caused by high production costs and insecurity in food-producing regions with price disparities at the regional level attributed to transportation costs, local demand-supply changes, and market dynamics.
In its response to the soaring prices of staple food items, the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), said to tame the pace of the increase in food prices, the Federal Government should consider measures such as price controls, subsidies for agro-allied industries, increased investment in agriculture, and adjusting import tariffs to lower essential food costs.
These strategies will stabilize food prices and enhance national welfare amid the current economic challenges. In addition, the jump in the prices of food items in June 2024 coincides with the month in which union workers protested to demand a higher minimum wage. The high price in June suggests that food sellers are already factoring the new wage into their pricing.
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Meanwhile, the latest Transport Fares report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop has dropped slightly from N976.08 recorded in May 2024 to N963.58 in June 2024, representing a 1.28 percent decline MoM.
Similarly, the average fare paid by commuters for bus intercity per drop decreased to N7,029.23 in June from N7,129.46 recorded in May 2024, indicating a decline of 0.52 percent. However, the air transport fare has increased to N89,886.84 in June 2024 from N89,432.43 in May 2024, marking a 0.51 percent rise on a month-on-month basis.
The average fare for commercial motorcycle (Okada) transportation rose by 0.84 percent to N477.49 in June 2024, from N473.51 recorded in May 2024. The data shows that the pattern of price movements is not the same across the four transportation routes. The decline in the prices of bus fares within a city and intercity is a welcome development.
However, the rise in motorcycle fares, which is the last-mile mode of transportation and the most used by the poor is troubling.
There is a high probability that the rise in motorcycle fares is driven by the high cost of goods and services in the economy. Hence, there is a need for the government to implement comprehensive policies that tame price increases and discourage arbitrary increase in price of goods and services.
