Inflation: 52.69% price increase hits daily bread for Nigerians in one year

The average price of 500g unsliced bread in Nigeria has risen by 52.69% in one year, according to the Selected Food Price report for October 2023 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 

The report shows that the price of 500g unsliced bread hits N736.68 in October 2023 from N482.47 recorded in the same month of the previous year. 

There is also an increase of 11.32% from the N661.75 recorded on the same quantity and type of bread in September of the same year.  

 However, the report further discloses that the price of this bread was as high as N1075 in Delta and as low as N500.25 in Yobe in October 2023. 

 Inflationary yeast hits sliced bread too 

A 45.43% price increase was also recorded for 500g sliced bread, which is more common in middle-class homes, in October this year. 

The price of this bread rose to N760.82 from N523.16 noted in the same month of the previous year. 

Month-on-month, there is an increase of 7.41% as the price was N708.36 in September 2023. 

Just like the case of unsliced bread, Delta has the highest sliced bread price of N1075 and Yobe has the lowest of N505.8. 

More Insight 

Bread prices are reportedly a big contributor to Nigeria’s soaring inflation rate, which is at an 18-year high of 27.33% in October. 

A component of food inflation in Nigeria, which is at 31.5%, is the rising cost of bread, according to statistics from the NBS’s consumer price index (CPI) report. 

Recently, the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN) blamed the ever-increasing costs of baking ingredients and forex scarcity for the bread price hikes. 

The same sentiments were shared by bakers, who spoke to Nairametrics much earlier. 

Also, there is also the cost of using generators, mostly diesel generators, to power the production process. 

The November 2023 Africa Energy Review report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that the cost of running diesel generators in Nigeria is four times the cost of electricity tariff per kilowatt hour. 

According to the NBS, Nigerians paid an average of N1004 per litre for diesel as of October 2023.  

Aside from the increasing production costs from the rising cost of baking ingredients, one of the bakers who spoke with Nairametrics identified over 15 levies by the local government council, public health cadet charges, and food handling tests, which contribute to operating costs of bakeries in the country.