Food Price Index Falls 2.1% in 2024

However, it warned they remain considerably higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UN FAO overall Food Price Index averaged 122.0 points — 2.6 points or 2.1 per cent lower than the average value in 2023Food prices increased over the course of the year, with the index climbing from 117.6 points in January to 127.0 in December.

The index rose 6.7 per cent from December 2023 to 2024, with meat, dairy and food oils accounting for the increase.

The UN’s food agency tracks monthly and global changes in the international prices of a set of globally traded commodities.

The disruption to global trade during the COVID-19 pandemic initially saw food prices dip but they later climbed higher amid the surge in inflation as the global economy rebounded.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sent them spiking to records since both nations are major wheat exporters, but efforts to ensure shipments were not blocked led to prices easing lower until the beginning of 2024.

The dip in the average value for the index between 2023 and 2024 was mainly due to falls in cereals and sugar prices.

Cereals dropped 13.3 points compared to 2023 underpinned by lower wheat and coarse grain prices, marking a second annual decline from the 2022 record level.

The Sugar Price Index averaged 125.8 points, down 19.2 points (13.2 per cent) from 2023 mainly reflecting record-high exports from Brazil during the year and a positive global supply outlook for the 2024/25 season

The decreases were offset in part by a 9.4-per cent rise in the vegetable oil price index.

In 2024 as a whole, the FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 129.6 points, up 5.8 points (4.7 per cent) from 2023. This increase was mainly attributed to a sharp surge in butter prices, on the back of a high global demand and constrained exportable supplies, resulting from erratic weather patterns that negatively impacted production.

For meat prices, they averaged 117.2 points, up 3.1 points (2.7 per cent) from 2023. This was driven by robust import demand from key meat-importing countries, amid slower global production growth.

This sustained higher average prices for bovine (cattle), ovine (sheep), and poultry meats, while average pig meat prices declined, prompted by subdued import demand, particularly from China.