Survey Shows New Food Prices as NBS Reports Decline in Inflation
- Food prices have declined across several Abuja markets after the festive season, according to a market survey
- Tomatoes, peppers, yams and poultry recorded notable price drops, while some items remained expensive
- Farmers and experts warned that the decline may be temporary without long-term government policies
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Oluwatobi Odeyinka is a business editor at Legit.ng, covering energy, the money market, technology and macroeconomic trends in Nigeria.
Prices of several staple food items have continued to ease across major markets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, following the end of the festive season, according to a market survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The survey showed that while many essential food items recorded notable price reductions, some commodities remained expensive.
Source: Getty Images
Some residents who spoke to NAN urged the said the government to ensure the decline in food inflation is sustained as they are beginning to experience some relief.
Latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate that Nigeria’s food inflation rate declined in December 2025 from 1.13 per cent to -0.36 per cent, on a month-on-month basis. The NBS attributed the decline to lower average prices of items such as tomatoes, garri, eggs, potatoes, millet, vegetables, beans, onions and peppers.
Marketers quote reduced prices
At Garki Model Market, NAN observed significant price reductions between November 2025 and January 2026. A dustbin basket of big red tomatoes now sells for between N5,000 and N5,500, down from N6,000 to N7,000, while shombo pepper fell to N3,000 from N4,500 to N5,000. Fresh pepper and tatashe also dropped sharply, though Irish potatoes rose to between N9,000 and N10,000 per basket.
Rice prices remained relatively stable, with a 50kg bag of local rice selling for N52,000 to N57,000, while foreign rice sells for about N64,000. A 25kg bag of local rice is priced between N25,000 and N28,000.
Similar trends were recorded in Nyanya, Gwagwalada, Apo Resettlement, Dei-Dei, Karu, Lugbe and Mararaba markets, where prices of tomatoes, peppers, yams, beans and poultry declined.
At Nyanya Market, a dustbin basket of tomatoes sold for between N2,000 and N3,000, as against N4,000 during the festive season.
Onions dropped to N3,300 to N4,000 from N5,000 for a dustbin basket, while five medium-sized yam tubers now sell for between N4,500 and N5,000, compared to N5,000 to N7,500 previously.
One mudu of brown beans dropped from N1,000 to N700.
Some prices remain the same
However, some items, such as beans and frozen fish, showed little or no change in certain markets, while Wuse Market continued to record higher prices compared to other areas surveyed.
Traders attributed the post-Christmas price drop to reduced consumer spending in January and increased supply from ongoing harvests. A tomato trader at Garki Market told NAN that lower prices had encouraged some customers to buy in larger quantities, although many still struggled due to limited income.
Source: Getty Images
Residents react
Residents who spoke to NAN welcomed the price reductions but stressed that low wages and irregular salary payments remain major challenges.
Cyril Okocha, a businessman, said food affordability remains tied to income levels, adding that salaries have not kept pace with inflation, and minimum wage implementation remains inconsistent across states.
“Many workers are underpaid, salaries are not indexed to inflation, minimum wage is not fully implemented across states, and some workers are not paid regularly,” Okocha said.
Farmers and agricultural experts also cautioned that the current decline may be temporary.
The president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kabir Ibrahim, said the price drop is largely seasonal and warned that food prices could rise again without long-term policies to address insecurity, foreign exchange pressures, transportation costs and dry-season farming.
Most expensive states to buy food in Nigeria
Legit.ng earlier reported the list of the 10 most expensive states to buy food based on the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of the NBS.
December inflation figures released by the NBS have revealed that Nigerians experienced a slowdown in the rate of price increases across the country.
The states with the highest food inflation rate were: Yobe, Ogun, Abuja, Lagos, Delta, Kano, Kogi, Osun, Rivers and Ekiti.
Source: Legit.ng
