Food Prices

Three consecutive years of progress in reducing global hunger demonstrate that hunger is not inevitable, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, said Tuesday at the launch of the 2026 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report.According to the SOFI report, an estimated 645 million people (7.8 percent of the global population) faced hunger in 2025. This represents nearly 14 million fewer people than in 2024 and 43 million fewer than at the 2022 peak.Food insecurity also improved substantially.

Key takeawaysFertilizer and energy, not food, are the core shocks. The Hormuz closure is disrupting energy and fertilizer shipments and driving up prices, but grain markets remain stable. Classic food price‑spike conditions are absent. Strong demand, tight stocks, weak dollar, and weather shocks aren’t aligning as in past crises. Food prices likely won’t surge soon. Ample global stocks and favorable crop conditions limit the risk of broad commodity price spikes. Agricultural commodity prices have been under sustained downward pressure s

The FAO Food Price Index rose in February for the first time in five months, driven by increasing cereal, meat, and vegetable oil prices. Despite the increase, however, the Index remains nearly 35 percent below the record high reached in March 2022.The Cereal Price Index rose slightly more than 1 percent in February but remained 3.5 percent below its February 2025 level. Wheat prices increased due to concerns about cold weather in Europe and the United States, as well as transportation disruptions in Russia and the Black Sea region.

The FAO Food Price Index fell in January for the fifth straight month, to nearly 23 percent below the record high seen in March 2022. Sugar, meat, and dairy prices drove the decline. The Cereal Price Index rose marginally in January but is still nearly 4 percent below its January 2025 level. Wheat prices fell 0.4 percent, with strong global supplies balancing growing demand and concerns about weather in several major producing regions. Strong supplies drove maize prices down slightly as well.

The FAO Food Price Index declined marginally in December, with prices reaching 2.3 percent below December 2024. Overall prices for 2025 remained 4.3 percent higher than 2024, however.