World food prices at highest since 2022 as supply risks mount, says UN agency

World food prices climbed in August to their highest level since late 2022, as severe weather and war disruption in the Gulf and Black Sea heightened anxiety about the supply of basics, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Friday.

Extreme heat and drought in Europe, the danger of a severe El Nino weather pattern and trade disruption induced by the Ukraine and Iran wars have upset agricultural markets, sending grain prices to three-year highs and sugar to a one-year peak.

The FAO Food Price Index, which analyzes monthly movements in a basket of internationally traded food items, averaged 133.3 points in August, up from July’s corrected figure of 130.8.

That was the highest score since November 2022, however roughly 17% behind a record peak from March 2022, during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “August’s surge in global food prices is a warning that the risk premium is returning to food markets: climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and interrupted trade logistics are converging to tighten supply expectations,” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said in a statement.

The FAO’s price benchmarks for cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy all rose in August.

The inclement weather in Europe impacted hopes for the maize and sugar beet harvests as well as animal output, while the projected El Nino phenomena fanned fears for vegetable oil and sugar output, it said.

Escalating strikes in the Black Sea have curtailed food exports between Russia and Ukraine in their 4-1/2-year-old war, while the US-Iran confrontation was still straining deliveries of fertiliser for crops.

In a separate report, the CSA decreased its 2026 global cereal production prediction by 3.4 million metric tons from July to 2.980 billion tons, currently 2.0% below 2025, yet still the second-largest harvest on record.