Zimbabwe bread now the most expensive in the world?
In a 2014 ebook “Bread in Africa’ co-authored by Diane Lyons and Catherine D’Andrea it was established that bread is a widely-consumed staple in Africa.
Recently experts (including The World Bank) have issued warnings of an exacerbated food crisis in Africa and elsewhere owing to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
The Russia-Ukrainian conflict will particularly impact bread prices in Africa because a lot of the grains used in breadmaking including wheat are imported from war-torn Ukraine.
In a development that further erodes the disposable incomes of most Zimbabweans, a standard loaf of bread now costs more than $2.
This follows the recent increase in flour prices by the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ), the local representative body of large, medium, and small scale grain milling companies in Zimbabwe.
The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe, recently adjusted maize and wheat prices by 50% and 17,8% respectively.
As a result a 10kg bag of roller meal now costs a staggering ZWL 1 665 up from ZWL 1 099.
With the official exchange rate now pegged at US$1:ZWL155, it means Zimbabwe now has the most expensive bread in the world.
In the meantime, as the whole world braces for possible further increases in bread prices, let’s take a look at the countries with the most expensive bread prices based on available statistics.
Below is the list of the African countries where bread is most expensive to buy, courtesy of Numbeo, a leading global database of consumer prices.
- Zimbabwe: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) costs an average of $2.27
- Nigeria: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) costs an average of $1.12
- South Africa: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) costs an average of $0.98
- Ghana: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) goes for an average price of $0.79
- Mauritius: A loaf of fresh bread goes for an average price of $0.71
- Egypt: A loaf of fresh bread goes for an average price of $0.60
- Morocco: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) goes for an average price of $0.50
- Kenya: Here, a loaf of fresh bread (500g) costs an average of $0.47.
- Algeria: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) goes for an average price of $0.16.
- Tunisia: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) goes for an average price of $0.13
