Onions are running against the rest of the Lagos vegetable market. FoodPrices Nigeria data from the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems market survey shows the mean price of a kg of onions across 10 markets rose from ₦1,210 to ₦1,260 in the fourth week of October 2026, a 4.13% increase on the third week. It was the largest weekly rise of any product in the basket, and the third weekly rise in a row.
Three Weeks of Gains
In the first week of October, onions averaged ₦1,030 per kg. The mean then rose to ₦1,154, ₦1,210 and now ₦1,260, a cumulative 22.33% increase in three weeks. Over the same period rodo pepper fell 12.92% and tomatoes 8.33%, so onions are the only vegetable in the survey getting dearer. The October average to date, ₦1,164, is 9.97% above the September average of ₦1,058.
Ajah and Agege Lead the Rise
The increase is concentrated in a handful of markets. At Ajah Market, a kg of onions doubled from ₦1,000 in the first week of October to ₦2,000, a 100% rise. Agege Market rose from ₦1,400 to ₦2,000, up 42.86%, and Mushin Market jumped from ₦900 to ₦1,300 this week alone, up 44.44%. Oyingbo Market rose 22.22% to ₦1,100.
Mile 12 Market did not move. It has held at ₦700 per kg in every weekly survey from September through October, and is now the cheapest market in Lagos for onions by a wide margin. Ajah and Agege at ₦2,000 charge 185.71% more for the same kg.
What It Means for the Pot
Onions now make up a bigger share of a basic stew base. For a household buying 1kg each of tomatoes, rodo and onions, onions accounted for 19.9% of the cost at the end of September. At this week's means of ₦1,650, ₦1,820 and ₦1,260, onions account for 26.6% of a ₦4,730 basket. A household buying 2kg of onions a week pays ₦2,520 at the mean, against ₦1,400 at Mile 12 Market and ₦4,000 at Ajah or Agege.
What Other Surveys Say
The rise in FoodPrices Nigeria data follows months of pressure on onion supply reported by Nigerian outlets. Legit.ng reported on 27 September that a paint bucket of onions at Oyingbo Market rose from ₦3,000 in May to ₦10,000, and that large bags rose from ₦50,000 to ₦70,000 in May to ₦150,000 to ₦250,000. It cited the National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, which blamed flooding in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Adamawa, rising seed costs and lower northern supply during the planting season. Legit.ng also put transport from the North at about ₦30,000 per bag. Earlier, Nairametrics recorded a big bag of dry onions rising 40% from ₦75,000 in June to ₦105,000 in July. All three reports agree with the direction in the Ministry survey.
Live prices: foodprices.ng/real-time-prices/?category=Vegetables