FAO Food Price Index

The FAO Food Price Index hit a record high in February, exceeding the previous record of February 2011. The index rose 3.9 percent from January and 20.7 percent from February 2021. Vegetable oil, dairy, cereal, and meat price increases all contributed to the continued surge.

Food prices are skyrocketing around the world. In January, international prices for major food items climbed to a level near the heights of the global food price crises of 2007-08 and 2010-11, according to the FAO Food Price Index (Figure 1). The spike has raised concerns over the potential for another global food crisis, increasing hunger among the poor and, possibly, social unrest around the world.

In December 2021, the FAO Food Price Index fell by 0.9 percent from the previous month, with vegetable oils and sugar prices both seeing significant declines. However, in 2021 overall, the Index reached a 10-year high and was up by 28.1 percent above 2020 levels.

The FAO Food Price Index continued to rise in November, up 1.2 percent from the previous month and 27.3 percent from November 2020. This increase, driven mostly by rising cereal and dairy prices, brought the Index to its highest level since June 2011.

The FAO Food Price Index rose 3 percent in October to reach its highest level since July 2011. The October Index stood 31.3 percent higher than its October 2020 levels. Last month’s increase was driven primarily by cereal (particularly wheat) and vegetable oil prices.