My People,

Did you know that the price of bread says a lot about the economy of a country? Because of the staple ingredients in bread (wheat, sugar, salt and oil), bread is common in pretty much every country. Of course, each country has its own variations of bread but it has become a great way for economists to study what’s going on in the economy.

Food economists (or bread scientists, as I like to call them) have lots of insights about the growth (or shrinkage) of a country’s economy based on some indicators including the price of bread. Pretty interesting stuff!

So, what’s the price of bread (500g) in each African country? I created this map infographic to show you which countries have ‘cheap’ bread and which ones have ‘expensive’ bread. Remember, ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’ are relative terms because each country has a different standard of living and purchasing power. I used data from Numbeo’s Cost of Living reports for 2021.

In countries like Algeria, Comoros, the Gambia and Tunisia, bread costs as low as $0.20. In other countries, bread is very expensive…as high as $3.50 in Equatorial Guinea, $3.60 in Angola, $5.00 in Eritrea and $6.10 in Mauritania. The country with the priciest loaf of fresh white bread is…CHAD! In Chad, bread costs $8.00 on average.

Incredible! Some of these prices are surprising and others are as one would expect them to be. In Nigeria, for instance, because of food inflation, the average price of bread has almost doubled to $0.80 or 400 Naira in July of 2021.

So, before you share this graphic, tell me: what’s the average price of bread in your country? Do you think it is affordable or expensive?

I’d love to hear all your bread stories.

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Before you go, please share this newsletter with other curious minds. There’s something pretty cool to discover every week!

Love,
Funmi!