Rice Price Crashes as FG Sells 50kg Bag Cheaper, Dealers Show Best Brands

• The price of rice has fallen from N80,000 per 50kg bag to about N65,000  for Nigerian rice and N68,000 for foreign rice
• The crash comes amid plans by the Nigerian government to sell 50kg bag at N40,000 to civil servants
• Dealers say that the staple’s price was also affected by the plan of the Nigerian government to remove duty on imported food items

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.

Following the intervention of the Nigerian government, the price of rice has dropped drastically.

In July, the commodity sold above N80,000 per 50kg bag crashed slightly below N70,000.

FG’s policy crash prices

The dealers say the development is due to the Nigerian government releasing thousands of metric tonnes of the commodity to civil servants.

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Findings by Legit.ng show that the Nigerian government recently released 50kg of rice to workers at N40,000 to ease the cost of living in the country.

Despite the harsh conditions for getting the product, the announcement reportedly sent shockwaves through the market, leading to the commodity's crash.

Emeka Eze, a rice dealer in the Ogba area of Lagos, told Legit.ng that many workers who patronise them monthly are now waiting for the subsidised federal government rice.

“Two things are responsible for the crash of the product. The recent announcement of the sales of rice subsidised rice by the Nigerian government affected patronage.

Also, many dealers are now selling off old stocks because the government has given Nigerians a 150-day window to import food items duty-free.

FG removes duty on imported food items

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He said the 150-day duty-free window may further crash the commodity’s price, stating that those who refuse to sell now may run at a loss when the imported ones arrive.

He said local rice now sells for about N65,000 per 50kg bag, and foreign rice sells for between N68,000 and N70,000.

Compared to July, Eze disclosed that the price hit as high as N80,000 per 50kg bag, leading many Nigerians to ditch the staple altogether.

Survey shows cheapest brands

Seven-year data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the average price of 1kg of rice increased from N172.74 in 2016 to N520.84 as of 2023.

Following the naira crash against the dollar, the commodity's price soared to N90,000 in Lagos between February and March. 

However, surveys across various markets in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun, and other states show that food items' prices have dropped drastically.

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Punch reports that sellers in various markets said the product's price had crashed between N65,000 and N63,000 compared to December 2023 and January 2024, when it sold for between N75,000 and N80,000 per 50kg bag.

Nigerians groan as rice price hits N77,000 per bag

Legit.ng previously reported that Nigerians in their millions are now adopting severe cost-cutting measures to cope with the hardship caused by the astronomical rise in the country's goods and services prices.

The National Bureau of Statistics said in December 2023 that Nigeria’s inflation rate hit a 27-year-high of 28.9%.

The December headline inflation increased by 0.72% compared to November 2023.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng