Why Is Beef So Expensive In Nigeria? Inside The ₦8,200 Price Surge

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]Joining me now is MF and Achiku analyst financial derivatives company.

[00:00:05]Great to have you on the show.

[00:00:07]Thank you Ladi for having me. Right, so we're seeing this price rise now despite Nigeria's large, you know, cattle population. We're seeing the price of beef outperforming food inflation and headline inflation. What's driving that?

[00:00:23]Okay, sir.

[00:00:24]Thank you Ladi for having me.

[00:00:26]Yes, I agree with you that the price of beef has risen by 37% from last year.

[00:00:32]And you know that beef is an essential commodity that is used here in a lot of Nigerian households because it is very rich in protein.

[00:00:41]And also because of that, a lot of household use it to make soup, make it make stew, and also other dishes. And right now the price has increased. And you know that beef is gotten from cow.

[00:00:54]Recently, the price of cow has risen.

[00:00:57]From 2 years ago, it was about for the large size of cow, it was about 400,000 to 500,000. Now we're seeing it cost over 1 million naira. And the reason why we're seeing the price of cow increase is because of one, higher logistics cost. Before the removal of fuel subsidy, transport cost for the movement of cattles from the north down to Lagos was between 300,000 to 400,000. But now due to the removal of the fuel subsidy and also the ongoing geopolitical tension, we're seeing that the transport cost has risen to about 1 million naira.

[00:01:33]And also another factor is insecurity.

[00:01:36]You know that most of the cows that are consumed here in Nigeria are reared in the north. And these northern regions are currently faced with a lot of insecurities. And because of this heightened insecurity, we're seeing that a lot of farmers are beginning to leave cattle rearing and to look for other source of livelihood. And that's why we're seeing that supply of this cattle has dropped in the market, which has also added pressure on prices. And currently, next week we're seeing that it's going to be the big Salah. Usually during this period, we see that demand we usually increases. And so, all these factors put together is why we're seeing the price of cow increase and also translating into the price of beef here in the country. Joana, I guess that's not the time to, you know, be buying beef if if you're not celebrating, you know, at this point. But, what do you think is the future of this industry post, you know, some of these celebrations coming up? What do you think going forward?

[00:02:32]Okay, so concern concerning the future of this industry, so I believe that after the festive season, obviously demand will reduce. But, also we're even seeing that right now in households they're beginning to remove a lot of consumption of beef from their consumption pattern. And this is because purchasing due to the heightened inflation here in the country, purchasing power has really reduced.

[00:02:58]That's why consumers are beginning to ration ration their consumption. So, rather than just rather than consuming beef which is very expensive because sometimes you can get beef for about 1,000 before you can get beef for 200 naira, 500 naira, 1,000 naira. But, now they're not a lot of sellers are not selling for that amount anymore. They're selling for 1,000. And even the 1,000 naira, the pieces that you get is really is usually four or even three. And so, a lot of households are beginning to look for other alternative source of protein like eggs, parlor fish, and just to name a few. And because of this, demand for beef will definitely decline. And because of demand for beef will decline beef will because of demand for beef will decline, we expect that a lot of these sellers will try and also reduce the prices and also prevent any further hike. But, also also to prevent any other further hike, the also has to come into place because right now that industry is really facing a lot of heightened insecurity and also problem of over grazing. So I know that yes, there are a lot of policies that have been come up that have been already been put up like the national policy ranching national the national ranching policy, sorry. And to ensure that we move from traditional grazing towards a more structured ranching program.

[00:04:22]Right. And definitely so so many policies we're looking out for there, especially when it comes to ranching.

[00:04:28]Thank you so much Mmes analyst financial derivatives company.

[00:04:31]Thank you.

[00:04:33]Thank you Lenny for having me.