Rice at Ajah Market held a fairly steady band through the first half of 2026, with the headline bags moving in single-digit percentages rather than the swings seen on beans. A 50kg bag of short grain imported rice sold for N58,000 in the week of January 26, climbed to N63,000 by the week of March 16, a rise of 8.6%, then eased to N60,000 by the week of June 1. My Choice short grain held even firmer, recorded at N75,000 a bag through February before slipping to N73,000 in March and holding there into June. Vitali long grain went the other way, from N70,000 in early February to N65,000 by June, a fall of 7.1%.
The June capture also brought premium rice onto the Ajah shelf for the first time in this dataset. Aani Golden Sella basmati appeared at N21,000 for a 5kg pack and N11,500 for 2kg. Because there is no earlier reading, these are first verified captures rather than price movements, and they signal a market widening its range toward higher-end buyers.
The broad steadiness fits the national rice story. BusinessDay reported that a surge in cheap imports and a cut in rice import duty to 47.5% from 70% had pushed paddy prices down by half from their 2025 peak, a backdrop that keeps milled rice from running away even as other staples climb. The USDA projected in March 2026 that Nigeria's rice planting area would shrink 7% in the coming season as low farmgate prices discourage planting.
The market reading sits well below the official one. The National Bureau of Statistics put the national average price of a 50kg bag of local short grain rice at N112,000 in March 2026, far above the Ajah bags, a gap Vanguard itself flagged when its own checks found bags closer to N60,000.
Against the other June market, Ajah is marginally dearer on short grain. A 50kg bag cost N60,000 at Ajah in the week of June 1 against N58,000 at Lekki-Jakande Market, a difference of N2,000.
Track live readings on the Ajah Market real-time prices page or follow the trend on the grain price index.