UN: Global food prices have fallen
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has announced that global food prices fell at the start of the year for the tenth consecutive month. The report shows that declines in vegetable oil, dairy and sugar prices helped push down the global food price index, while grain and meat prices remained largely stable.
The United Nations Food Organisation releases its own Food Price Index monthly, measuring changes in the prices of a basket of cereals, vegetable oils, dairy, meat and sugar. Only last month, for example, this food price index averaged 131.2 points in January, down 0.8% from the previous month and about 18% below its peak in March 2022.
The FAO cereal price index was virtually unchanged in January compared to December and was 4.8 percent above its level of last year. International wheat prices fell by 2.5 percent as production in Australia and the Russian Federation was higher than expected.
Vegetable oil prices also fell by about 3 percent in January. World prices for palm and soybean oil fell amid reduced global import demand, while prices for sunflower and rapeseed oil fell due to ample export supplies.
Dairy prices are down 1.4%, while meat prices are down just 0.1%. The FAO price index for sugar is down 1.1% from December.
During 2022, four of the five FAO food sub-indices - cereals, meat, dairy and vegetable oils - reached record highs, while the fifth, sugar, was at its highest level in 10 years.
The FAO Cereal Price Index rose by about 18 percent in 2022, due to factors including significant market disruptions, higher energy and input costs, unfavourable weather and continued strong global food demand.
