World food prices hit 3-year high in July as weather and war weigh, FAO says

The UN's FAO Food Price Index rose to its highest level in over three years in July, driven by a 3.4% increase in cereal prices and a 5.8% jump in wheat prices.

​World food ​prices rose ‌in July ​to their highest in more than three ‌years as adverse weather and war escalation in the Gulf and Black ‌Sea supported crop markets, the United ‌Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday. The FAO Food Price Index, ⁠which ​tracks ⁠monthly changes in a basket of internationally ⁠traded food commodities, averaged 131.1 points in ​July, up from 130.3 in ⁠June and the highest reading since January ⁠2023.

A ​3.4% month-on-month rise in the FAO's Cereal Price ⁠Index drove the trend, fuelled in turn ⁠by ⁠a 5.8% jump in wheat prices, the agency said.