Global Food Prices Surge Again Amid Heatwaves and War... Highest in 3.5 Years

The global food price index has risen to its highest level in three and a half years.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on the 7th local time, the global food price index for July stood at 131.1, up 0.6% from 130.3 the previous month.

Compared to the same month last year, it increased by 1.0%, marking the highest level since January 2023 (131.2).

The FAO analyzed that recent unusual high temperatures and rising energy prices stemming from geopolitical crises such as the war in Iran have overlapped to drive up food prices.

In an interview with Reuters released on the 5th, Maximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist, warned that the wars in Iran and Ukraine, along with the El Nino phenomenon, have created a "perfect storm" that simultaneously causes rising production costs and poor crop yields, potentially driving the world into another phase of rising food inflation.

The FAO investigates international price trends for 24 items and calculates and announces the food price index monthly across five commodity groups: cereals, vegetable oils, meat, dairy products, and sugar.

The index is a comparative figure with the average price from 2014 to 2016 set at 100.

The index continued to rise this year, reaching 130.7 in April, and then showed a downward trend for two months before rebounding upward this month.

However, it has not yet reached the record high of March 2022 (160.2), which was driven by the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The rise in the July food price index was largely driven by a 3.4% increase in the cereal price index compared to the previous month, with wheat prices in particular surging by 5.8%.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.