Key points
- The National Average Cost of a Healthy Diet per adult a day stood at N1,541 as at March 2026.
- The March figure represents a 1.89 per cent increase compared to the N1,513 recorded in February 2026.
- At the zonal level, the average CoHD was highest in the South-East at N1,899 and lowest in the North-East at N1,233.
- Animal-source foods emerged as the most expensive food group recommendation to meet, accounting for 39 per cent of the total cost.
- Legumes, nuts, and seeds were the least-expensive food group on average, making up seven per cent of the total cost.
Main Story
The National Average Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) per adult a day stood at N1, 541 as at March 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said. The NBS revealed this in its CoHD report for March 2026 released in Abuja on Monday.
The bureau said the CoHD in March increased by 1.89 per cent compared to the N1,513 recorded in February 2026. It said the increase was driven by the rise in prices across all food groups. 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.
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The NBS also said that in March, the average CoHD was highest in the South-East at N1,899 per adult per day, followed by the South- West at N1,801 per day. It said the lowest average CoHD was recorded in the North-East at N1,233 per adult per day. The NBS further said that at the state level, Ekiti, Imo and Abia recorded the highest CoHD at N2,091, N2,052, and N1,970, respectively.
The bureau said Adamawa, FCT, and Taraba recorded the lowest CoHD at N1,004, N1,113 and N1,149, respectively. The NBS said CoHD had steadily increased over the past year. It said that as of March 2026, the CoHD was 4.38 per cent higher than what was recorded in March 2025, increasing from N1,477 to N1,541.
Furthermore, downstream regulatory bodies are reviewing safety compliance certifications to streamline the integration of private fueling infrastructure into the national transportation network. The report added that animal-source foods were the most expensive food group recommendation to meet in March, 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. 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 who focus on food security.
The Issues
- Managing a steady annual increase in the baseline cost of nutritious meals as daily food group prices continue to rise.
- Resolving major geographical price disparities that make dietary guidelines much more expensive to meet in southern states.
- Developing targeted agricultural or economic interventions to lower the high cost per calorie associated with fruits, vegetables, and animal protein.
What’s Being Said
- Defining the strict baseline parameters used to calculate the daily nutritional spending threshold, the bureau noted: “This is a lower bound (or floor) of the cost per adult per day excluding the cost of transportation and meal preparation.”
- Outlining the specific commodity price variations that occurred within the dietary basket during the reporting cycle, the report stated: “While the price of starchy staples and vegetables decreased, all other food groups experienced price increases.”
- Explaining the nutritional economics of the least-cost basket where certain items absorb high expenditure while yielding minimal energy returns, the document observed: “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.’’
- Discussing the joint operational frameworks needed to convert these statistical data points into practical interventions, the report remarked: “These stakeholders will devise strategies that tackle access, availability, and affordability of a healthy diet effectively.”
- Highlighting how future demographic research can pinpoint exact socioeconomic gaps by matching nutritional costs against family earnings, the bureau concluded: “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,”
What’s Next
- Food security stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers will collaborate to devise strategies tackling the affordability of healthy diets.
- Future research initiatives will incorporate household income data to determine the exact proportion of the population unable to afford the baseline basket.
- Market tracking teams will monitor local food items to see if animal-source food groups maintain their high share of total dietary costs.
Bottom Line
Driven by widespread price increases across nearly all food groups, the national average cost of a healthy diet rose to N1,541 per day in March 2026, with the National Bureau of Statistics identifying animal-source foods as the most expensive component and calling for collaborative stakeholder strategies to improve nutritional affordability.
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