Food Prices

Food prices fell by 0.8 percent in January, according to the FAO Food Price Index. This latest decline brings the Index to the lowest point seen since its peak in March 2022.

Almost a year after the February 2022 Russian invasion in Ukraine, fears of a period of sustained high global food prices have subsided somewhat, but eight major concerns for food security remain.

The FAO Food Price Index continued its nine-month decline in December 2022, falling by an additional 1.9 percent. The decline was driven mostly by falling vegetable oil, cereal, and meat prices. However, overall in 2022, the Index was over 14 percent higher than its 2021 level, reflecting continued high prices driven by conflict, climate, and market concerns.

Frequent food crises with spiking prices have become the new normal in the 21st century, bringing urgency to the task of understanding their nutritional impacts on poor and food insecure populations. In a new analysis of 1.27 million children in 44 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) we show that exposure to food inflation in the womb and first years of life is associated with greater risks of child wasting in the short run and stunting in the long run.

The FAO Food Price Index held steady in November and was only 0.3 percent above its November 2021 level. Rising vegetable oil prices were checked by declines in cereal prices.