The United Nations food agency’s average price index went to its highest in 2022 as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused food shortage concerns, resulting in higher commodity prices.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which tracks the international prices of the most widely traded food commodities, averaged 143.7 points in 2022, up 14.3 percent from 2021 and the highest since records began in 1990.
“Calmer food commodity prices are welcome after two very volatile years,” FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said in a statement.
“It is important to remain vigilant and keep a strong focus on mitigating global food insecurity given that world food prices remain at elevated levels,” he said.
Torero said that the prices of many staples are close to all-time highs. He added that rice prices are rising, and there are “still many risks” about future supplies.
World commodity data
FAO’s index looks at how cereal, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils, and sugar prices change each month on the international market.
The FAO dairy price index went up by 19.6 percent, making the average since 1990 the highest it has ever been at 142.5 points.
In 2022, the cereal price index hit a record high of 154.7 points, up 17.9 percent from 2021.
This was caused by significant market disruptions, increased uncertainty, higher energy and input costs, bad weather in a few key suppliers, and continued strong food demand worldwide.
Last year, the vegetable oil price index reached a record high of 187.8 points, 13.9 percent higher than a year earlier.
The meat price index also increased by 10.4% from 2021 to 2022, reaching 118.9 points, the highest average annual increase since 1990.
The FAO sugar price index went up 4.7 percent from one year to the next, reaching 114.5 points. This is the highest average annual number since 2012.