World food prices hit highest level since 2022 amid weather and war disruptions
Global food prices rose in August to their highest level since November 2022 as extreme weather and wars disrupted supplies of key commodities, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said, Reuters reports.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the prices of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from a revised 130.8 in July.
Despite reaching its highest level in nearly four years, the index remained almost 17% below its record peak in March 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Prices rose across all five categories tracked by the FAO: cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy. The cereals index increased 2.2% from July, while sugar prices jumped 11.9% to their highest level since June 2025.
Extreme heat and drought in Europe have hurt prospects for corn and sugar beet harvests as well as livestock production. Meanwhile, the expected El Niño weather pattern has raised concerns about palm oil and sugar production in Asia.
War has added to the pressure. Escalating attacks in the Black Sea have disrupted grain shipments from Ukraine and Russia, while the U.S.-Iran conflict has strained fertilizer supplies.
The FAO also cut its forecast for global cereal production in 2026 by 3.4 million metric tons to 2.98 billion tons. That would be 2% below last year's output — the largest annual decline since 2018 - although it would still be the second-largest harvest on record.
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