Global food prices reach their highest level since late 2022

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s food-price index rose 1.9% in August to 133.3 points, its highest reading since late 2022. The index tracks internationally traded staples rather than supermarket bills, and all five of its main groups—cereals, vegetable oils, meat, dairy and sugar—moved higher. Hot, dry weather has weakened crop prospects in some key growing regions, while disruption to shipping and grain exports around the Middle East and Black Sea has made supplies less certain; that can eventually add pressure to consumer food inflation, though the effect varies by country, currency and local harvests.