World food prices dip in December 2022

The index of world food prices dipped for the ninth consecutive month in December 2022, declining by 1.9 per cent from the previous month.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 132.4 points in December, 1.0 per cent below its value a year earlier, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reported.

However, for 2022 as a whole, the index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities, averaged 143.7 points, 14.3 per cent higher than the average value over 2021.

Vegetable oil world quotations led the decrease, with the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index down 6.7 per cent from November to reach its lowest level since February 2021.

The FAO Cereal Price Index decreased 1.9 per cent from November.

The FAO Meat Price Index in December dropped by 1.2 per cent from November, with lower world prices of bovine and poultry meats outweighing higher pig and ovine meat prices.

The FAO Dairy Price Index increased by 1.2 per cent in December, following five months of consecutive declines.

The FAO Sugar Price Index also rose, increasing by 2.4 per cent from November, mostly due to concerns over the impact of adverse weather conditions on crop yields in India and sugarcane crushing delays in Thailand and Australia.