This Is An Unofficial Inflation Report Every Nigerian Family Can Relate With

Research Firm, SBM Intels has released its 2016 March to May Home Makers Guide, which basically highlights the cost of basic consumer goods and services all around Nigeria. The report typically deals with the basic items households buy more frequently.

The following are key highlights of the report;

Perishables, staples and edible consumables

Tomatoes

Tomatoes, one of the most common perishable commodities in Nigeria, experienced one of the most stark price increases in recent memory. It sold in Lagos, at an average price of N1, 075, up from 679.50 for a paint container (6 litres; 2 kilograms) during H2 2015. This compares with N540 in H1 2015 and N500 in Q4 2014, an average increase of nearly 50% over the 2015 numbers.

The average prices for a paint container of tomatoes in the markets visited are as follows:

• Wuse (Abuja) – N425; Nyanya (Abuja) – N300
• Onitsha – N1, 123 (H2, 2015: N325)
• Awka – N1, 123 (H2, 2015: N350)
• Trade Fair (Lagos) – N1, 050 (H2, 2015: N692); Balogun (Lagos) – N1,100 (H2, 2015: N667)
• Dugbe (Ibadan) – N300; Bodija (Ibadan) – N300
• Sabon Gari (Kano) – N567 (H2, 2015: N140)

Pepper

In Lagos, the price of pepper continued its upward march, with a paint container of pepper selling for an average price of N2, 650 over the period from March to May compared with an average price of N700 over the second half of 2015, an increment of 73%.

The average prices for a paint container of pepper in the visited markets are as follows:

• Wuse (Abuja) – N390 (H2, 2015: N430); Nyanya (Abuja) – N390 (H2, 2015: N350)
• Onitsha – N640 (H2, 2015: N400)
• Awka – N640 (H2, 2015: N400)
• Trade Fair (Lagos) – N2650 (H2, 2015: N690); Balogun (Lagos) – N2650 (H2, 2015: N700)
• Dugbe (Ibadan) – N2433 (H2, 2015: N2133); Bodija (Ibadan) – N2433 (H2, 2015: N3200)
• Sabon Gari (Kano) – N700 (H2, 2015: N633)

Ibadan retained its persistently high pepper prices from the later part of 2015 as our earlier report showed. Respondents had reported that like most other staples sold in local markets in the Ibadan area, pepper is sourced from surrounding farms, and supply was worse during the second half of 2015 than in previous periods.

Beans

Beans, a common staple which had been relatively stable for much of 2015, exhibited a clear geographic spread in the shift in its economic value. While the price of a mudu (400g) of beans at Wuse Market in Abuja held steady at N350 for the period under review (with the value at Nyanya, also in Abuja rising from N320 to N350 by May) and the price in Sabongeri in Kano marginally increasing to N130, all markets in the southern cities under review experienced significant increases – with both Onitsha and Awka seeing their prices rise to N370 (in 2015, it was at N100), while Ibadan and Lagos markets recording average prices of N206 and N210 respectively. It is worth noting that beans is still significantly cheaper to purchase in both western cities than the national capital.

Garri

In contrast to our previous report, garri prices spiked during the survey period. While Ibadan remained the cheapest place to purchase garri in our survey cities, both Dugbe and Bodija markets experienced a 33% price increase. The increase was more pronounced in the two Lagos markets (50%), as well as their Anambra counterparts (also 50%). Our measure was the typical paint bucket, and the average prices are presented below:

Household and personal hygiene products

Many products in this segment are either imported, or for those which are produced in Nigeria are industrially produced from raw materials which are imported. This leaves such items at the mercy of Nigeria’s uncertain foreign exchange policy and the wild swings that the naira has undergone in the parallel foreign exchange market.

The price of filling a small LPG (cooking gas) cylinder, 5kg weight, averaged around N5603 over the survey period, from N4200 over the second half of 2015 and January 2016. However, this cost was the lowest in Awka and Onitsha (N4700 in May), and highest in Kano (N9500 in May). This average price in Lagos (N4500) was lower than the national average, unlike in our previous report where both figures were essentially the same.

Liquid detergent aggregated a price increase from an average N210 in the last quarter to N250 this quarter to continue a trend which saw an increase from N180 in the Q4 2014 to N210.

Household needs such as toilet wash, air fresheners, brooms, dustpans and mop sticks all saw price increases across all the markets surveyed, continuing a trend which had begun in the second half of 2015.

Female use items which include beauty and personal care products, cosmetics all saw increases of at least 20%, on top of a 10% increase recorded in the second half of 2015, the increase attributed by traders to the unstable exchange rate of the American dollar to the Naira.

Get the full report here