Pure water price doubles in one year as Nigerians suffer erosion of purchasing power

Nigerians have grudgingly accepted a N10 to N20 increase in the price of pure water. Despite claims of falling inflation, no one expects the price to return to its pre-coronavirus price of N5.

A recent Nairametrics market survey reveals the price of a sachet of water, popularly known as “pure water” has risen from N10 to N20. The doubling of sachet water prices is likely to affect the majority of Nigerians, considering it is the most popular and convenient source of drinking water for most people in cities and villages who can’t afford bottled water.

The price increase persists despite Nigeria’s inflation rate falling for the second month in a row, to 17.93% in May 2021, down from 18.12% April 2021. This drop has not been significant enough to alleviate inflationary pressures impacting the average Nigerian when a basic consumable such as pure water has doubled in price.

John Maynard Keynes was the first to create the idea of sticky prices, which states that as prices rise, it is difficult for them to fall. This notion is clear in Nigeria, where the price of pure water has risen from N5 to N10 and now N20. Regardless of inflationary trends, it is possible that prices will never revert to N5.

The country’s double digits inflationary trend is due to the Coronavirus pandemic, expanding foreign debt, currency scarcity and extreme insecurity issues, which have resulted in the doubling of the most basic consumable good, pure water.

Nairametrics spoke with a few key players in the market to obtain a better understanding of the situation.