There was a general rise in food prices in January, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.

The NBS said this in its report titled ‘Selected food prices watch for January 2021’, which was released on Friday.

It said, “Selected food price watch data for January 2021 reflected that the average price of one dozen of agric eggs medium size increased year-on-year by 12.48 per cent and month-on month by 2.26 per cent to N510.84 in January 2021 from N499.55 in December 2020.

“The average price of piece of agric eggs medium size (price of one) increased year-on-year by 15.03 per cent and month-on-month by 1.79 per cent to N46.21 in January 2021 from N45.40 in December 2020.”

The NBS added, “The average price of 1kg of tomato increased year-on-year by 22.11 per cent and decreased month-on-month by -6.59 per cent to N289.66 in January 2021 from N310.10 in December 2020.

“The average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality sold loose) increased year-on-year by 21.69 per cent and month-on-month by 0.11 per cent to N551.57 in January 2021 from N550.94 in December 2020.

“Similarly, the average price of 1kg of yam tuber increased year-on-year by 21.56 per cent and month on month by 0.51 per cent to N234.67 in January 2021 from N233.48 in December 2020.”

The NBS had earlier disclosed that the consumer price index, which measures inflation, increased by 16.47 per cent (year-on-year) in January.

This was the highest inflation rate recorded in the country since April 2017.

According to the NBS, the figure is 0.71 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in December 2020 (15.75 per cent).