Top 5 African countries with the most expensive grocery prices at the end of 2024

High grocery costs pose a direct danger to food security, especially in areas where many people live on low incomes.

As the cost of basic food products rises, families are often forced to restrict what they consume, resulting in malnutrition and other health consequences.

These regions are forced to rely on sub-standard food materials, which leads to low access to critical nutrients, and can cause long-term developmental issues, particularly in children.

Exorbitant food prices reduce consumers’ disposable income and, consequently, their purchasing power in other economic sectors.

Economic activity may stall as a result of a drop in demand for non-essential products and services.

Also, small firms may have trouble sustaining their businesses especially those that depend on consumer spending. This might result in job losses and a worsened outlook for the economy.

Furthermore, high grocery prices in rapidly urbanizing African countries put additional pressure on urban inhabitants who are already dealing with high housing costs and other living expenditures.

For low- and middle-income city dwellers, growing grocery costs can make urban life increasingly unsustainable.

With that said, here are the 5 African countries where buying groceries is very expensive according to Numbeo, which provides an estimation of grocery prices in a city relative to New York City.

Numbeo computes this index for every city using item weights from the “Markets” section.