With transportation fares and other microeconomic indices in Nigeria’s economy sustaining an upward swing over the past few months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Friday that Cost of Health Diet in the country increased to N1,513 per day in February, up from the N1,458 recorded in the preceding month.
The statistics agency, in its ‘CoHD Report For February 2026’, disclosed that the CoHD was the least expensive combination of locally available items that met globally consistent food-based dietary guidelines, and usually used as a measure of physical and economic access to healthy diets.
It clarified that the COHD represented a lower bound (or floor) of the cost per adult per day excluding the cost of transportation and meal preparation,”
The statistics agency also reported that in the month under review, the average CoHD was highest in the South-East at N1,889 per adult per day, followed by the South- West at N1,786 per day, while the lowest average CoHD was recorded in the North-East at N1,160 per adult per day.
- Advertisement -
According to the Bureau, at the state level, Ekiti, Imo and Abia recorded the highest CoHD at N2,075, N2,051, and N1,924, respectively compared to Adamawa, Borno, and Taraba, which recorded the lowest CoHD at N979, N1,040 and N1,102, respectively.
Noting that the COHD has been increasing over the past year, the national statistical system coordinating agency reported that as of February 2026, the CoHD was 12.4 per cent higher than COHD recorded in February 2025 at N1,346.
The NBS further revealed: “The food groups that have driven the increases in CoHD on a year-on-year basis are animal source foods followed by fruits, then oil and fats and lastly vegetables.
“However, the price of starchy staples decreased on a year-on-year basis”, it added.
A further analysis of the COHD report reflected that animal-source foods were the most expensive food group recommendation to meet in February, accounting for 39 per cent of the total CoHD to provide 13 per cent of the total calories, while fruits and vegetables were the most expensive food groups in terms of price per calorie.
According to the statistics agency, fruits and vegetables 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.
It reported that legumes, nuts and seeds were the least-expensive food group on average, at seven per cent of the total cost, adding that “however, the CoHD and the food Consumer Price Index (CPI) are not directly comparable.
“The CoHD includes fewer items and is measured in Naira per day, while the food CPI is a weighted index”, the NBS added.
Similarly, it reported that the CoHD had risen faster than general inflation and food inflation.
The statistics agency projected that the policy implications of these results would foster collaboration among stakeholders, particularly policymakers, researchers and civil society actors that focus on food security.
It predicted: “These stakeholders will devise strategies that tackle access, availability, and affordability of 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 Bureau added.
