FAO: global food prices fell modestly in February

According to data on the website of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the overall price index was 129.8 points in February, which is a decrease of 1.4 points (0.6 percent) compared to January. This was the 11th consecutive monthly decline. Together with the decrease in February, the index was already 29.9 points (18.7 percent) away from its peak reached in March 2022.

The weakening of the index in February was caused by a significant drop in the price indices of vegetable oils and dairy products, as well as a minimal decrease in the price indices of cereals and meat, while the sugar price index rose sharply. The FAO food price index is a trade-weighted index that takes into account the international market prices of the five most important food commodities – vegetable oils, cereals, meat, dairy products and sugar.

The FAO cereal price index averaged 147.3 points in February, which is 0.1 percent lower than in January and 2 points (1.4 percent) higher than the level of a year earlier. Among the main cereals, among others, the price index of wheat rose modestly, by 0.3 percent, that of corn, minimally, by 0.1 percent, while that of rice decreased by 1 percent, and that of barley by 0.9 percent.