FAO: 'Food price index increased by 28.1% in 2021'

The FAO food price index averaged 125.7 points in 2021, an increase of no less than 28.1% compared to 2020, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Only in 2011 was the index higher at 131.9 points. That was the highest index since 1961 when the FAO began calculating the index to indicate the level and trend of food prices.

The FAO calculates a food price index every month, looking at the development of prices for meat, dairy products, cereals, vegetable oil and sugar.

The FAO grain price index in 2021 reached its highest annual level since 2012 and was on average 27.2 per cent higher than in 2020, with maize up 44.1 per cent, wheat up 31.3 per cent but rice down 4.0 per cent.
The price index for vegetable oil reached an all-time high in 2021, with an increase of 65.8 per cent compared to 2020.
For 2021 as a whole, the FAO sugar price index increased by 29.8 per cent over the previous year to its highest level since 2016.
The FAO meat price index for 2021 was 12.7 per cent higher than in 2020.
The FAO dairy price index was on average 16.9 per cent higher in 2021 than in 2020.

fao.org