PricePally Stew Report Reveals Lagosians Spend 106% of their Salary on Food

The agricultural sector has contributed at least 22% to the Nigerian economy since 2009. In 2020, PwC revealed the agricultural sector is the highest labor employer after employing over 36% of employees in Nigeria. Despite the positive contributions of agriculture to Nigeria’s economy, food prices aren’t slowing down. In 2019, Nigerians spent ₦22.8 trillion on food, more than half (56.7%) of the total amount they spent on household expenses (₦40.2 trillion). 

Regular flooding, desertification of crop and grazing lands, and insurgencies in crop-producing areas are age-long blockers affecting the prosperity of the agricultural industry. In 2023, the removal of petrol subsidies, cash scarcity, and the subsequent unification of the naira with foreign currency heaped more pressure on food affordability. As a result, Nigerians spend more than half of their income, the worst income-to-food-spending ratio in the world, with the average Nigerian spending ₦48,186 monthly on groceries—the fourth-highest in Africa. 

To understand the depth of food inflation, PricePally’s inaugural 2023 Stew Index Report analyzed the cost of preparing stew (a household delicacy in Nigeria) in two metropolitan Nigerian cities—Lagos and Abuja—in 2022 and 2023, using in-house data. The analysis covered stew ingredients such as pepper, tomatoes, red meat (beef and goat meat), and white meat (turkey and chicken).

The main highlights from the report include:

1. Stew ingredients are cheaper in Abuja than in Lagos in 2022 and 2023.
2. Red meat (beef and goat meat) is cheaper in Abuja compared with Lagos in 2022 and 2023.
3. In 2022, a minimum wage earner needs to spend at least 80% of their monthly income to prepare chicken stew once every week throughout the month. Meanwhile, in 2023, a minimum-wage earner needs 106% of their salary to prepare stew once every week during the month in Lagos.

Download the report to read the full analysis and statistics here.