Nigerians are choking as the price of rice, garri, yam, beans, and other food items surged by over 100 per cent annually.

The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its latest Selected Food Price Watch for March 2024.

This is as 1kg of rice locally sold loose stood at N1,340.74, indicating a rise of 152.93 per cent in price on a year-on-year basis from N530.08 recorded in March 2023 and a 9.63 per cent rise in price on a month-on-month basis from N1,222.97 in February 2024. 

Similarly, the average price of 1kg of Garri white, sold loose, rose by 112.34 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N353.16 in March 2023 to N749.89 in March 2024, while there was an increase of 3.66 per cent on a month-on-month basis.

In addition, the average price of 1kg of Yam tuber rose by 141.25 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N443.02 in March 2023 to N1,068.78 in March 2024. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 5.87 per cent from N1,009.56 in February 2024 to N1,068. in March 2024.

The state profile analysis in March 2024 reveals that the highest average price of 1kg of rice locally sold loose was recorded in Niger State at N1,699.98, while the lowest was recorded in Benue state at N985.83.

Regarding the average price of 1kg of Beans brown (sold loose), Ondo State recorded the highest price at N1,596.68, while Sokoto recorded the lowest price at N745.5. Ogun State recorded the highest average price of 1kg of Garri white at N1021.13, while the lowest was reported in Benue at N490.55. The highest average price of 1kg of Yam tuber was recorded in Edo at N 1,695.13, while the lowest average price was recorded in Katsina at N723.39.

The development comes amid the soaring price of headlines and food inflation, which stood at 33.20 per cent and 40.01 per cent in March 2024.