A small-sized bulb onion is now sold for between N200 and N300 in Nigerian markets ahead of this year’s Yuletide.
This was revealed by a market survey carried out on Tuesday in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The survey showed that the prices of onions at the Dutse and Kubwa village markets surged as a single small-sized onion increased by 200 percent to N300 on 17th December, 2024, from N100 in the same period in November.
Also, prices of big-sized onions rose to N500 from N300.
Similarly, a dustbin basket of onions increased to N250,000 from between N170,000 and N192,000, a seller in the Dutse first gate market, Abdullahi Yakubu.
Yabuku noted that the price surge is not unexpected as it is usually the case a few weeks before the festive period.
“It’s not usual though this time around, the hike is much. Last month we bought a bag of onions between N170,000 and N192,000. Now, it is over N250,000.”
Deborah Okoli lamented that the price of onions has almost gone beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians.
“You can imagine, a small onion of N50 to N100 is now N300; this is ridiculous,” she said.
The development comes as Nigeria’s headline and food inflation increased to 34.60 percent and 39.93 from 39.19 percent and 39.19 percent, respectively.
Earlier, it was reported that economists and financial analysts said the Federal Government should intervene in critical sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and energy to bring down rising inflation.
