FAO: Global food prices reach highest levels since 2022

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday that global food prices rose in August to their highest level since late 2022, as adverse weather conditions and disruptions stemming from the war in the Gulf and the Black Sea heightened concerns about supplies of key crops.

Agricultural commodity markets are being shaken by sharp temperature increases and drought in Europe, the threat posed by the El Niño weather phenomenon, and trade disruptions caused by the wars in Ukraine and Iran. These factors have pushed grain prices to a three-year high and sugar prices to a one-year high.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from a revised 130.8 points in July.

This is the highest reading since November 2022, but still about 17 percent below the unprecedented peak recorded in March 2022 following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“The rise in global food prices in August is a warning that risk premiums are returning to food markets,” said Maximiliano Torero, Chief Economist at the FAO, in a statement.

All FAO price sub-indices for grains, vegetable oils, sugar, meat, and dairy products rose in August.