World food prices highest since 2022.

Global food prices rose in August to their highest level since late 2022, as adverse weather conditions and disruptions in the Black Sea heightened concerns about the supply of basic foodstuffs, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

Extreme heat and drought in Europe, the threat of the El Niño weather phenomenon and trade disruptions caused by the wars in Ukraine and Iran have shaken agricultural markets, pushing grain prices to their highest level in three years and sugar to a one-year high.

The FAO food price index, which tracks monthly changes in the prices of a basket of food products traded on the international market, averaged 133,3 points in August, up from a revised 130,8 points in July.

That was the highest level since November 2022, although it is still almost 17 percent below the record high of March 2022, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"The August rise in global food prices is a warning that the risk premium is returning to food markets: climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disrupted trade logistics are simultaneously reinforcing expectations of reduced supply," FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said in a statement.

Price indicators for cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy products, used by the FAO, rose during August.

Extreme weather in Europe has affected the outlook for corn and sugar beet crops, as well as livestock production, while the expected El Niño phenomenon has raised concerns about palm oil and sugar production in Asia, according to the FAO.

Increasing attacks in the Black Sea have reduced grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine during their four-and-a-half-year war, while the conflict between the US and Iran has put additional pressure on the flow of fertilizer needed for agricultural production.

Among food categories, the FAO Cereal Price Index rose 2,2 percent month-on-month, reaching its highest level since May 2024, while the Vegetable Oils Index rose 0,6 percent, reaching its highest level since June 2022.

The sugar price index jumped 11,9 percent, to its highest level since June 2025, as reduced production in Brazil's key central-south region added to concerns about weather in Europe and Asia.

In a separate report, the FAO lowered its forecast for global cereal production in 2026 by 3,4 million metric tons from its previous estimate in July, to 2,980 billion tons. That is now 2,0 percent lower than in 2025 and represents the largest annual decline since 2018.

However, the forecasted production would still be the second highest ever recorded.

The forecast for world grain stocks at the end of the 2026/2027 season has been reduced by 1,1 percent, to 947,2 million tonnes, which is now only slightly above the level of the previous season.

The reduced estimate of coarse grain stocks outweighed the effect of the increased forecast for wheat, which reflects the expected build-up of stocks in Russia and Ukraine due to transport disruptions, the FAO said.