The National average Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) marginally rose to N1,265 in July this year from N1,241 in the preceding month, representing 1.9% month-on-month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported.
The statistics agency in the ‘Cost of Healthy Diet July 2024’ report published Monday on its website disclosed that in July 2024, the average CoHD was highest in the South West at N1,581 per adult per day, compared to N956 per adult per day in North West.
It noted that in recent months, the CoHD had risen faster than general inflation and food inflation.
The Bureau, however, maintained that the CoHD and the food CPI were not directly comparable, pointing out that the CoHD includes fewer items and is measured in Naira per day, while the food CPI is a weighted index.
It clarified that the Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) remained the least expensive combination of locally available items that meets globally consistent food-based dietary guidelines, adding that the CoHD is used as a measure of physical and economic access to healthy diets.
The statistics agency stated that the CoHD represented a lower bound (or floor) of the cost per adult per day excluding the cost of transportation and meal preparation.
