UN World Food Price Index Dips in August Amid Falling Sugar, Meat, and Cereal Prices
The United Nations’ world food price index saw a slight dip in August, driven by falling prices for sugar, meat, and cereals, which outweighed rising costs for dairy and vegetable oils, according to data released on Friday.
The index, compiled by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to monitor the prices of globally traded food commodities, dropped to 120.7 points in August from a revised 121 in July. The FAO index had reached a three-year low in February, following a retreat from its record high in March 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In August, the index was 1.1% lower than the same month last year and 24.7% below its March 2022 peak.
In a separate report, the FAO reduced its forecast for global cereal production in 2024 by 2.8 million metric tons, bringing it to 2.851 billion tons, nearly matching the previous year’s output. This decline is largely due to unfavorable hot and dry weather affecting coarse grain crops in the European Union, Mexico, and Ukraine.
The forecast for global cereal consumption in 2024/25 was also cut by 4.7 million tons to 2.852 billion tons, reflecting a modest 0.2% rise from the 2023/24 period. Additionally, the FAO reduced its projection for world cereal stocks at the end of the 2025 season by 4.5 million tons, bringing the total to 890 million tons.
