Nigeria’s national average Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) increased to N1,589 in April 2026, representing an increase of 3.12% when compared to the N1,541 recorded in previous month, and driven by the rise in prices across all food groups except Starchy Staples, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported.
The statistics agency in its ‘Cost of A Healthy Diet (April 2026)’ report published on Monday reported that in the month under review, the average CoHD was highest in the South-East at N1,830 per adult per day, compared to N1,415 per adult per day in North-east.
According to the Bureau, the CoHD has risen faster than general inflation and food inflation but then both are not directly comparable as the CoHD includes fewer items and is measured in Naira per day, while the food CPI is a weighted index.
An analysis of the report’s data on state-by-state basis reflected that Ekiti, Imo and Bayelsa States recorded the highest cost at N2,036, N2,018, and N1,909 respectively while Adamawa, Federal Capital Territory and Akwa Ibom State accounted for the lowest costs at N1,143, N1,278 and N1,314 respectively.
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The data also showed that at the Zonal level, the average CoHD was highest in the South-East Zone at N1,830 per day, followed by South-West Zone at N1,753 per day, while the lowest average CoHD diet was recorded in North-east Zone at N1,415 per day.
On the cost share by food group, the report indicated that Animal Source Foods were the most expensive food group recommendations to meet in April, accounting for 40% of the total CoHD to provide 13% of the total calories.
Similarly, the data revealed that Fruits and vegetables were the most expensive food groups in terms of price per calorie; they accounted for 16% and 14% respectively, of total CoHD while providing only 7% and 5% of total calories in the Healthy Diet Basket.
It further showed that Legumes, Nuts, and Seeds were the least-expensive food group on average, at 7% of the total cost.
The statistics agency further clarified on the trends in the CoHD that the cost had been rising steadily over the past year with the April the higher by 4.74% than the cost recorded in April 2025, increasing from N1,518 to N1,589.
It added that while the price of Starchy staples and Oil and Fats decreased, all other food groups experienced price increases.
On a month-on-month basis, the cost increased by 3.12% compared to March 2026 (N1,541). The increase was driven by the rise in prices across all food groups except Starchy Staples.
The CoHD is the least expensive combination of locally available items that meets globally consistent food-based dietary guidelines and is 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.
