World food prices reached their highest level since late 2022, with the war in Ukraine being one of the reasons
Kyiv • UNN
In August, the FAO Food Price Index rose to its highest level since November 2022. Weather and the war drove up grain and sugar prices.
In August, global food prices reached their highest level since late 2022, as adverse weather conditions and trade disruptions in the Black Sea region caused by military hostilities heightened concerns about supplies of staple foods. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported this on Friday, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
Extreme heat and drought in Europe, the threat of a severe El Niño weather event, as well as trade disruptions caused by the wars in Ukraine and around Iran, destabilized agricultural markets, driving grain prices to a three-year high and sugar prices to their highest level in a year.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the cost of a basket of staple food products on the global market, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from the revised July figure of 130.8 points.
This was the highest level since November 2022, although it was still nearly 17% below the historic peak recorded in March 2022 following the start of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"The rise in global food prices in August is a warning that a risk premium is returning to food markets: climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disruptions to trade logistics are acting simultaneously, intensifying supply outlook concerns," said FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.
All of the FAO price subindices rose in August: for cereals, oils, sugar, meat and dairy products.
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Extreme weather conditions in Europe negatively affected forecasts for the corn and sugar beet harvests, as well as livestock production volumes, while the expected El Niño phenomenon heightened concerns about palm oil and sugar production in Asia.
Increased attacks in the Black Sea limited grain supplies from russia and Ukraine amid a conflict that has been ongoing for more than four years, while tensions between the United States and Iran complicated the supply of fertilizers for agricultural crops.
Among the various food categories, the cereal price index rose by 2.2% from the previous month, reaching its highest level since May 2024, while the vegetable oil price index increased by 0.6%, reaching its highest level since June 2022.
The sugar price index jumped by 11.9%, reaching its highest level since June 2025; the price increase contributed to lower production volumes in Brazil's key Center-South region, heightening concerns caused by weather conditions in Europe and Asia. In a separate report, the agency lowered its forecast for global cereal production in 2026 by 3.4 million tonnes from its July estimate, to 2.980 billion tonnes; this figure is now 2.0% below the 2025 level, representing the most significant year-on-year decline since 2018.
However, the projected production volume will still be the second-largest in the history of observations.
The forecast for global cereal stocks at the end of the 2026/2027 season was revised down by 1.1%, to 947.2 million tonnes; this level now only slightly exceeds that of the previous season.
According to the FAO, the reduction in the estimate for feed grain stocks outweighed the increase in the forecast for wheat stocks, which reflected the expected accumulation of stocks in russia and Ukraine due to disruptions in shipments.