Global Food Prices Continue to Fall for the Past Four Months

Global food prices have fallen for the past four months, coinciding with the start of the harvest season for food commodities in several countries.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that the average global food price index fell 13.3 points (13.3%) to 140.9 from the previous month. The global food price index has fallen consecutively for the past four months.

The largest decrease was seen in the vegetable oil price index, which dropped by 19.2% to 171.1 in July 2022. The normalization of crude palm oil (CPO) supply from Indonesia was a contributing factor to the decline in global vegetable oil prices. This was followed by the cereal price index, which fell by 11.4% to 147.3 in July 2022.

The wheat harvest and other cereal crops in several countries contributed to the decline in global cereal prices. The sugar price index also fell by 3.8% to 112.8 last month. The dairy price index decreased by 2.5% to 146.4 in July 2022, and the meat price index fell by 0.5% to 124.0 last month.

The global food price index has fallen by 11.8% from its all-time high of 159.7 in March 2022. However, the global food price index remains 13.1% higher than its level a year ago.