Lagos ranked 12th most expensive city to live in Africa

Lagos, the most populated city in West Africa has been ranked as the 12th most expensive city to live in Africa for the first quarter of 2022, according to a recent cost of living index.

The cost of living index compiled by Statista, a German company that specialises in market and consumer data said that the index compares the expected average costs of basic necessities such as food, clothing, entertainment, healthcare, etc.

Dakar, Senegal ranked as the most expensive city in Africa with a cost of living index of 50.87. Pretoria, South Africa ranked 6th position with an index of 42.76, while its legislative capital Cape Town ranked 8th with an index of 40.33.

Accra, Ghana was ranked higher than Nigeria with a cost of living index at the 11th position.

“The prices of goods and services have generally increased across the world with global events (such as the war in Ukraine) are having direct negative impacts on many African economies, causing the increase in cost of living in these countries,” Analysts at Statista said.

Read also: Explainer- Why Nigeria’s inflation is rising

Over the past one year, the price of basic food items sold in Lagos has experienced an increase. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the average price of 1kg frozen chicken went up by 36.5 percent to N2, 483.75 in April 2022 from N1, 818.75 in April 2021.

The average price of a dozen eggs went as high as N815.4 from N568.10 making a 43.53 percent increase year on year while the price of evaporated milk peaked at N289.29 from N234.21.

Rice which is a very common meal in the state was not left out of the hit from inflation as its price soared to N676.91 per kg from N595.65 in April 2022 which is 13.6 percent increase year on year.

Also, the cost of cooking gas in Lagos recorded a significant increase of 83 percent year on year, according to NBS the average price of 12.5kg cooking gas rose from N4, 523.81 to N8, 278.13.

Transportation within the state saw a marginal rise of 1.7 percent year-on-year to N458.82 on a daily basis per person.