World food prices rose in July

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) food price index, which reflects the price developments of five groups of cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable fats and sugar on the world market, rose by 1.6% last month compared with the previous month, the organization said on Friday.

This was driven by higher prices for meat products and vegetable fats, with dairy products, cereals, and sugar falling slightly.

Food on the international market has risen by an average of 7.6 per cent over the past year (last month, compared to July last year), but has fallen by 18.8 per cent since March 2022, when it was at an all-time high, after the start of Russia's invasion of the global agricultural powerhouse, Ukraine.

Cereal prices fell by an average of 0.8 per cent last month compared to the previous month, and were 3.8 per cent lower than a year earlier.

Meat products were on average 1.2% more expensive in July than in June, with beef, mutton and poultry meat rising in price over the month, and pork slightly lower. Over the year, prices rose by an average of 6%.

Pean fat prices jumped by 7.1 per cent over the month to their highest level in three years, more due to a seasonal drop in supplies from the Black Sea region.

Dairy products fell by an average of 0.2% on the month, but rose 21.5% on the year. The fall in prices in a month was the first since April last year.

Sugar continued to fall in price in July, down 0.2 per cent on the month, while prices fell by an average of 13.5 per cent on the year.

The FAO Food Price Index reflects price developments in the international market, but these only partially affect prices in shops and can take time to be felt, depending on fair competition between traders and the administrative application of price controls.