The national average cost of a healthy diet (CoHD) per adult per day rose to N1,541 in March 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

The NBS revealed this in its CoHD report for March 2026, released in Abuja on Monday.

The bureau said the CoHD in March increased by 1.89 per cent compared to the N1,513 recorded in February 2026.

It said the increase was driven by rising prices across all food groups.

The NBS said the CoHD was the least expensive combination of locally available items that met globally consistent food-based dietary guidelines.

It said it was used as a measure of physical and economic access to healthy diets.

“This is a lower bound (or floor) of the cost per adult per day excluding the cost of transportation and meal preparation,” it said.

The NBS also said that in March, the average CoHD was highest in the South-East at N1,899 per adult per day, followed by the South-West at N1,801 per day.

It said the lowest average CoHD was recorded in the North-East at N1,233 per adult per day.

The NBS further said that at the state level, Ekiti, Imo and Abia recorded the highest CoHD at N2,091, N2,052, and N1,970, respectively.

The bureau said Adamawa, FCT, and Taraba recorded the lowest CoHD at N1,004, N1,113 and N1,149, respectively.

The NBS said CoHD had steadily increased over the past year.

It said that as of March 2026, the CoHD was 4.38 per cent higher than in March 2025, rising from N1,477 to N1,541.

“While the price of starchy staples and vegetables decreased, all other food groups experienced price increases.”

The report added that animal-source foods were the most expensive food group recommendation to meet in March, accounting for 39 per cent of the total CoHD to provide 13 per cent of the total calories.

It noted that fruits and vegetables were the most expensive food groups in terms of price per calorie.

“They accounted for 16 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, of the total CoHD while providing only seven per cent and five per cent of total calories in the Healthy Diet Basket.

“Legumes, nuts and seeds were the least-expensive food group on average, at seven per cent of the total cost,’’ it said.

The NBS said the policy implications of these results would foster collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders, such as policymakers, researchers, and civil society actors focused on food security.

“These stakeholders will devise strategies that tackle access, availability, and affordability of a healthy diet effectively.

“Also, future research incorporating income can also be used to determine the proportion and number of the population that are unable to afford a healthy diet,” the report said. 

(NAN)