Nigeria’s food market is showing early signs of relief, with rice prices easing from their January levels, even as the country spent ₦3.30 trillion importing food and beverages in the first six months of 2026.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s food and beverage import bill rose from ₦1.39 trillion in the first quarter to ₦1.91 trillion in the second quarter, bringing the January-June total to ₦3.30 trillion. The NBS released its Q2 2026 Foreign Trade Statistics on September 7, 2026.
The half-year bill was 3.1 per cent lower than the ₦3.40 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. However, the second-quarter increase shows that imports remained a significant part of Nigeria’s food supply chain.
The picture at the market level is less severe than it was earlier in the year. A 50kg bag of imported long-grain rice, which sold for about ₦70,000 in January, had fallen to around ₦55,000 by September, representing a ₦15,000, or 21.4 per cent, reduction, according to price data reported by Legit.ng on September 9, 2026.
Independent market data also points to a more stable rice market. ArketData put the median price of a 50kg bag of foreign rice at ₦66,000 across 12 markets as of September 18, 2026, while its data for Nigerian rice showed a median of ₦55,000 across 14 markets.
That moderation, however, has not translated into broad relief across food businesses.
Wheat-dependent businesses continue to face high input costs, with Nigeria remaining heavily dependent on imported wheat. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service projected Nigeria’s wheat imports at 7.2 million tonnes for the 2026/27 marketing year, against domestic production of only about 140,000 tonnes.
For bakeries and food vendors, the distinction matters because cheaper rice does not reduce the cost of producing bread, meat pies and other flour-based products. They still face the cost of flour alongside energy, transport, packaging and other operating expenses.
Financial analyst and Lead City University accounting professor Godwin Oyedokun said the N3.30 trillion import bill exposes structural weaknesses in Nigeria’s agricultural economy. In comments reported on September 10, 2026, he linked the dependence on imported food to challenges including insecurity, high input costs, limited agricultural finance, inadequate irrigation, storage and transportation problems, and weak agro-processing capacity.
The latest market trend therefore presents a mixed picture for Nigerian consumers and food businesses. Rice has become cheaper than it was at the start of the year, offering some relief to households, but the wider food economy remains exposed to imported inputs and production costs.
The ₦3.30 trillion import bill shows that even as some staple prices moderate, Nigeria continues to spend heavily to meet domestic food demand, leaving the durability of the current price relief closely tied to local production and supply conditions.
