- Ethiopia has the most expensive grocery prices in Africa.
- Factors such as imports dependency, agricultural productivity, inflation, currency depreciation, and taxes contribute to higher grocery prices.
- Grocery Index 2025 is the courtesy of NUMBEO.
The cost of groceries varies significantly across Africa, influenced by factors such as import dependencies, economic conditions, and agricultural productivity.
Many African countries rely heavily on imported food products due to limited agricultural production, as can be likened to countries like Mauritius and Ivory Coast.
These countries import a significant portion of their food, increasing costs due to shipping fees, tariffs, and exchange rate fluctuations.
Inflation and currency depreciation are other factors at play, making groceries quite expensive in these countries. For instance, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia have faced rapid inflation, reducing purchasing power, thus increasing food costs—also, a weaker currency making imported goods expensive.
Other factors pushing grocery costs high are poor agricultural productivity, high transportation and logistics costs, government policies and taxes, and supply chain disruptions.
For instance, disruptions caused by geo-conflicts, political instability, or external factors like pandemics and global food shortages have, in most cases, led to higher food prices in Africa.
Landlocked countries like Ethiopia and Zimbabwe often face additional costs in transporting goods from ports, while countries like Algeria and Namibia experience price hikes due to supply chain challenges.
The high cost of groceries in these African countries poses several social, economic, and health consequences, including increased cost of living, food insecurity and malnutrition, increased dependence on food aid, redundant business growth, and decline in health and productivity.
Persistently high grocery prices also contribute to overall inflation, as is the case with Zimbabwe. The country’s hyperinflation has been a major issue, reducing people’s purchasing power and making economic progress difficult.
According to the recent Numbeo’s 2025 Groceries Index, Ethiopia leads with the most expensive groceries as of early 2025. Ranked 45th globally, with a grocery index of 45.5, Ethiopia’s reliance on imports and supply chain challenges contribute to the high cost.
Ethiopia imports groceries, including wheat, rice, and vegetable oil. Food imports made up 13.84% of Ethiopia’s total merchandise imports in 2023.
