The cost of food has outpaced Nigeria’s N30,000 minimum wage. This is according to a study by eCommerce company, Picodi.
In the report, it was stated that in the past year, Nigeria’s minimum wage has remained unchanged unlike 54 other countries around the world.
Aside from the most populous African country, other countries that didn’t record increase in their minimum wage are -Armenia, Malaysia, Israel, Peru, Philippines, Slovenia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
What this means
While unstable forex and alarming inflation rate has not been in favour of an average Nigerian in recent times, this Picodi reports that the N30,000 minimum wage, which was implemented in April 2019, is not enough to buy basic foods as of January 2022.
Presenting facts as it relates to the present cost of food items, Picodi highlighted a list that consists of eight different products, namely -bread, milk, eggs, rice, cheese, meat, fruits, and vegetables.
Although the products may be limited, they are sufficient to meet the minimum nutrient requirements of an average adult. See their prices below:
- Milk (10 liters) – N11,470
- Bread (10 loafs 500 g each) – N4,310
- Rice (1.5 kg) – N1,470
- Eggs (20 pcs.) – N1,120
- Cheese (1 kg) – N1,950
- Poultry and Beef (6 kg) – N9,790
- Fruits (6 kg) – N4,680
- Vegetables (8 kg) – N6,190
With the aforementioned, the value of basic food products cost N40,980, which Picodi, reports has outpaced the minimum wage.
Meanwhile, on Monday, January 17, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that food prices in the country influenced the increase of inflation to 15.3%, which appeared to be the first after eight months consecutive decline.
After recording consecutive decline since April 2021, the consumer price index went up by 0.23% compared to the 15.40% recorded in November last year.
“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months ending December 2021 increased by 16.95 percent from 16.98 percent over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period recorded in November 2021 down by 0.03 percent points,” the NBS report added.
