The national average cost of preparing a pot of jollof rice in a Nigerian household rose from N25,486 in October 2025 to N30,435 in March 2026, a 19.4 per cent increase according to a new survey.
The rise in the average cost of a pot of jollof rice was revealed in the SBM Jollof Index Q1 2026 report titled “From Hormuz to the Pot,” which linked the increase in prices partly to the crisis in the Middle East.
After the U.S/Israel and Iran war started on 28 February, Brent crude spiked from the low‐$70s to above $80 within days and then climbed to nearly $120 over the following month.
By mid‐March, petrol in Lagos had nearly doubled to N1,325 a litre, and Abuja stations were posting N1,367.
Subsequently, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported headline inflation of 15.38 percent in March, up from 15.06 percent in February, while month‐on‐month inflation more than doubled to 4.18 percent.
