Rice Is Cheaper Than Last Year, But Edged Up Slightly in March — NBS
By Victor Idajili
If you’ve been buying rice recently, you’re likely paying less than you were this time last year, even though prices ticked up a bit last month.
That’s according to the National Bureau of Statistics food price watch for March 2026. The NBS also clarified that it tracks the cost of 1kg of loose rice for its inflation basket, not the 50kg bags most people buy in bulk.
Local short-grain rice averaged ₦1,876.36 per kgin March, up 0.94% from ₦1,858.93 in February. But compared to March 2025, when it went for ₦2,242.64 per kg, the price is down 16.33%
Imported long-grain rice showed the same pattern. It sold for ₦2,223.83 per kg in March, a small 0.54% rise from ₦2,211.79 the month before. Year-on-year, though, it’s 17.01% cheaper than the ₦2,679.51 per kg recorded in March 2025.
So while there was a modest increase between February and March, the bigger picture is that rice is noticeably more affordable than it was a year ago.
