Nigerians spent over ₦22 trillion on food in 2019 — NBS

Nigerians spent about ₦22.8 trillion on food in 2019, according to a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This is about 57 per cent of the total spending (N40.2 trillion) by Nigerians for that period.

The largest chunk of the food expenditure — ₦4 trillion — was spent on food consumed outside the home, the May 2020 report, which was last released in 2010, showed. This includes food gotten from restaurants, bars, roadside joints, among others.

Starchy roots, tubers (like yam, potatoes etc.) and plantain are the next most consumed food items at ₦2.5 trillion, followed by rice, ₦1.9 trillion and vegetables, ₦1.7 trillion.

Ranked among the least bought food items, beverages cost Nigerians ₦296.6 billion; confectioneries accounted for ₦205.5 billion; while they spent ₦150.2 billion on both bottled and can alcoholic drinks.

Non-food expenditure

Data from the survey show that Nigerians spent about ₦17.4 trillion (about 43 per cent of their spendings) on non-food expenses in 2019.

Transportation (₦2.6 trillion), health (₦2.5 trillion), education (₦2.4 trillion) and telecommunication services (₦2.2 trillion) top the list in this category.

Other expenses incurred by Nigerians during the period under review include rent (₦2.1 trillion), fuel and light (₦2 trillion), clothing and footwear ₦1.8 trillion, household goods (₦1.1 trillion), entertainment (₦428.2 billion), water (₦197.6 billion).

Further breakdown

On a regional basis, the south-west recorded the highest overall household expenditure as well as the highest expenditure on food and in non-food categories, while the north-east (excluding Borno) recorded the lowest.

Overall, the report showed, the south-west at about 29.95 per cent of total expenditure, south-south at 20.94 per cent and north-west at about 17.02 per cent recorded the highest expenditure in 2019. These three regions accounted for over 67 per cent of the total consumption expenditure in Nigeria in 2019.

State-wise, Lagos recorded the highest consumption expenditure at ₦5.1 trillion (13 per cent of Nigeria’s), followed by ₦2.3 trillion (5.83%) in Oyo, Delta’s ₦2.1 trillion (5.38%), Rivers, ₦2 trillion (4.99%) and Kano State ₦1.97 trillion (4.91%).

Yobe (₦420 billion), Nasarawa ₦383.6 billion, Ebonyi ₦310.2 billion and Taraba ₦297.4 billion all sit beneath the pecking order.

Implication

The Nigeria Living Standard Survey (NLSS) was conducted between September 2018, and October 2019, across 36 states and the FCT, from which a sample size of 22,110 households were surveyed.

Its findings show that the consumption pattern is tilted towards food than non-food items. However, the more developed a society becomes, the less it spends on food and the more it spends on non-food items, the survey said.

“In most developed countries, it is the opposite, where the consumption pattern is skewed towards non-food items,” the nation’s statistics bureau wrote in the report. “Lagos is a clear indication of a state with an emerging economy. Lagos state’s expenditure on non-food items was more than its expenditure on food.”

In 2015, for instance, the average annual household income in the United States was $63,091. While food accounted for $6,133 of this, non-food items took at least $33,867 (living took $16,920, insurance and social security, $5,336, medical $2,853, transportation $8,758).

The findings in the NBS report are expected to be included in the computation of final household expenditure, a component used by the nation’s statistics bureau in computing Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP).