Cost of Healthy Diet Hits N1,513 Daily in February – NBS

The National Average Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) per adult a day stood at N1,513 as at February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

The NBS revealed this in its CoHD report for February 2026 released in Abuja.

The bureau said the CoHD in February increased by 3.76 per cent compared to the N1,458 recorded in January 2026.

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 February, 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.

It said the lowest average CoHD was recorded in the North-East at N1,160 per adult per day.

The NBS further said that at the state level, Ekiti, Imo and Abia recorded the highest CoHD at N2,075, N2,051, and N1,924, respectively.

The bureau said Adamawa, Borno, and Taraba recorded the lowest CoHD at N979, N1,040 and N1,102, respectively.

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

It said as of February 2026, the CoHD was 12.4 per cent higher than what was recorded in February 2025, increasing from N1,346 to N1,513.

“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.”

The report added 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.

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 report also says that the CoHD had risen faster than general inflation and food inflation.

“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,” it added.

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 that focus on food security.

“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 report said.

(NAN)