ROME — Global food prices climbed to their highest point in three-and-a-half years in July, driven primarily by ongoing geopolitical trade tensions and adverse global weather patterns, according to figures released Friday by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The FAO Food Price Index rose 0.6% from June to average 131.1 points, marking its highest reading since January 2023. Strong price increases across cereals, vegetable oils, and sugar outweighed moderate declines in meat and dairy markets. Despite the recent surge, overall global food costs remain 18.2% below the peak set in March 2022.
Supply disruptions and environmental factors hit staple crops hardest. The FAO Cereal Price Index surged 3.4% month-on-month, anchored by a 5.8% jump in global wheat prices caused by persistent infrastructure damage and shipping bottlenecks in the Black Sea region. Concurrently, the Sugar Price Index jumped 5.6% due to growing concerns that intense heat waves and dry weather across Europe, along with developing El Niño patterns in Asia, could sharply reduce upcoming crop yields. The Vegetable Oil Price Index also surged 3.7% to hit its highest level since mid-2022.
Conversely, meat and dairy prices offered slight relief. The Meat Price Index dropped 2.8% to 127.7 points, marking its first monthly decline of the year, while the Dairy Price Index edged down 0.8%, continuing a steady downward trend that began in early spring.–News Desk