The food price index is the highest since April 2023, although it is 20.5% below the record in March 2022, after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine.
World food prices rose to an 18-month high in October. This was reported by Reuters in relation to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday, November 8.
Thus, the price index, compiled to track the world’s main food products, rose to 127.4 points last month, which is 2% higher than in September.
Thus, the index increased by 5.5% compared to a year ago and became the highest since April 2023, although it was 20.5% below the record in March 2022, after Russia launched a full-scale war against in Ukraine.
Prices for all categories rose except for meat, and oil prices rose more than 7% from the previous month, helped by concerns over palm oil production.
The overall index has risen steadily since September, when it reached its highest since July 2023 due to higher sugar prices.
Persistent concerns about Brazil’s 2024-25 production outlook contributed to a more modest increase in sugar prices in October, when they rose 2.6%.
Cereal prices increased by 0.8% compared to September.
Wheat prices rose amid concerns about growing conditions in the Northern Hemisphere and following the introduction of an unofficial export price in Russia, while corn prices also rose.
Meat prices decreased by 0.3%. Prices fell the most for pork, but not for chicken, unlike beef, which saw price increases due to rising international demand.
In a separate report on cereals, FAO cut its forecast for global cereal production in 2024 to 2.848 billion metric tons from 2.853 billion forecast a month ago.
The revision brought expected production down 0.4% from last year, but remained the second highest on record.
Previously, the National Bank of Ukraine changed the main macroeconomic indicators for the current and subsequent years. The regulator changed the price growth forecast downwards: by 1.2 and 0.3 percentage points (pp), respectively, to 9.7 and 6.9%. Only in 2026 can the inflation rate be brought to a definable 5%.
Source: korrespondent
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