FAO: Global Food Prices Drop by 20.5%

Food prices fell for the twelfth consecutive month in March 2023 by 20.5 percent compared to the same month in 2022 when markets were affected by the first repercussions of the war in Ukraine, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The "FAO" stated that "the available abundance, weak demand for imports, and the extension of the initiative on Black Sea grains (the agreement that allowed the export of Ukrainian grains) contributed to this decline."

Within a month, the organization's food price index, which measures the change in international prices for a basket of basic food commodities, declined by 2.1 percent compared to its level in February as it decreased by 20.5 percent “compared to its record level in March 2022,” according to what was published by the “AFP.”

Cereal prices decreased (by 5.6 percent within a month) as well as vegetable oils (by 3 percent), which constituted compensation for the increase in sugar prices (by 1.5 percent), which reached “their highest levels since October 2016” due to “ Concerns about reduced availability of sugar globally, with production expected to decline in India, Thailand and China.