The UN food agency’s price gauge ended 2022 at a level it had never reached before. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which follows international prices of the most widely traded food commodities, averaged 143.7 points for the year. That was 14.3% above 2021 and the highest since records began in 1990, the agency said on Friday.
The year before had been no calm one: the index gained 28% in 2021 as the world economy recovered from the pandemic.
War in Ukraine
Prices jumped after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, on fears that Black Sea trade would be disrupted and shortages would follow. They have since pulled back from their peak, partly because of a UN-backed grain export channel out of Ukraine and the prospect of better supplies in producing countries.
December was the ninth month in a row of decline. The index fell to 132.4 points, against a revised 135.00 for November. The November reading had first been published as 135.7.
Which foods drove it
Cheaper vegetable oils did most of the work in December, helped by some drops in cereal and meat prices. Sugar and dairy rose slightly and held the overall fall in check.
Across the full year, though, four of the five sub-indexes hit records: cereals, meat, dairy and vegetable oils. Sugar reached a 10-year high. The cereal index alone rose 17.9% in 2022, which the FAO attributed to major market disruptions, higher energy and input costs, bad weather and steady global demand.
“Calmer food commodity prices are welcome after two very volatile years,” said Maximo Torero, the FAO’s chief economist.
