The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s latest statement reveals that global food prices increased by 1.6 percent in February. The rise was attributed to the impact of sugar, vegetable oils, and dairy products.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) issued its latest report on food prices.

According to the FAO, global food prices increased by 1.6 percent in February compared to the previous month, driven by rises in sugar, vegetable oils, and dairy products. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international food prices, rose by 1.6 percent in February compared to January, reaching an average of 127.1 points. The increase compared to February of the previous year was 8.2 percent. Global food prices rose notably due to dairy products, sugar, and vegetable oils. The Cereal Price Index rose by 0.7 percent monthly due to rising wheat and corn prices, but showed a 1.1 percent yearly decrease. The increase in wheat prices was attributed to concerns over supply constraints in Russia and crop conditions in Eastern Europe and North America.

World corn prices continued to rise due to tight supply in Brazil and strong demand for US exports, while global rice prices fell by 6.8 percent in February.

A 2 percent increase was recorded in the Vegetable Oil Price Index, driven by palm, soy, and sunflower oil price hikes due to seasonal supply constraints in Southeast Asia and strong demand from the biodiesel sector. The annual increase in the index was 29.1 percent. The Sugar Price Index fell by 6.6 percent compared to the previous month due to unfavorable production expectations in major exporters such as India and Brazil. The FAO Dairy Price Index rose by 4 percent, supported by strong global demand, while the Meat Price Index saw a 0.1 percent decrease. The FAO also published the Cereal Supply and Demand Summary Report, which includes evaluations and forecasts on global production, consumption, trade, and stock trends. The organization revised the global cereal production estimate for 2024-2025 from 2.8407 billion tons to 2.8418 billion tons. The global wheat production estimate in the report was also revised from 788.6 million tons to 792.2 million tons.