World food prices hit a record high in February, led by a surge in vegetable oils and dairy products, to post a 24.1% increase year-on-year, the U.N. food agency said on Friday.
Highlights
- Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which tracks most globally traded food commodities, averaged 140.7 points last month.
- Food prices have contributed to a broader surge in inflation as economies recover from coronavirus crisis.
- FAO economist Upali Galketi Aratchilage said concerns over crop conditions and export availabilities provided only a partial explanation to the increase in global food prices.
- Higher costs are putting poorer populations at risk in countries reliant on imports, FAO has warned.
- The agency also issued its first projections for cereal output in 2022, seeing global wheat production rising to 790 million tonnes from 775.4 million in 2021.