The United Nations food agency’s world price index fell in March for a 12th consecutive month, and is now down 20.5% from a record high hit one year ago following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 126.9 points last month against 129.7 for February, the agency said on Friday. It was the lowest reading since July 2021.
According to FAO, the decline was caused by a combination of adequate supply, low import demand, and the renewal of a pact allowing the safe transport of Ukrainian grain over the Black Sea. The reduction in the index was attributed to lower prices for cereals, vegetable oils, and dairy goods, which countered increases in sugar and meat prices, according to the Rome-based organization.
“While prices dropped at the global level, they are still very high and continue to increase in domestic markets, posing additional challenges to food security,” Maximo Torero, FAO’s chief economist said in a statement.
“This is particularly so in net food-importing developing countries, with the situation aggravated by the depreciation of their currencies against the U.S. dollar or the euro and a mounting debt burden,” he added. The FAO cereal price index fell 5.6% month-on-month in March, with wheat registering a 7.1% drop, maize a 4.6% decline and rice easing 3.2 percent.
The index for vegetable oils declined 3.0%, or 47.7%, from its peak in March 2022, while the dairy index fell 0.8%.
Sugar, on the other hand, increased 1.5% to its highest level since October 2016, owing to fears over falling supply prospects in India, Thailand, and China. The meat price index increased 0.8%.
