FAO Food Price Index
First published: 1996
Brief summary
Monthly global food price index and components.
Article
The FAO Food Price Index measures monthly changes in international prices for a basket of widely traded food commodities. It combines separate indices for cereals, vegetable oils, dairy products, meat and sugar.
The component indices are weighted according to each group’s share of global agricultural exports during the index base period. The aggregate therefore reflects movements in international commodity quotations rather than national retail food prices.
Changes can result from harvest conditions, energy and fertiliser costs, exchange rates, trade restrictions, freight costs, inventories and shifts in import demand. Different components often move in opposite directions within the same month.
Recent values may be revised when additional quotations become available, particularly for meat. The index is suitable for tracking broad international price movements but does not directly measure household food costs or food-price inflation in a particular country.
Source details and credits
- Source / publisher: FAO
- Source type: Data portal
- URL type: WWW
- Credits: FAO
- URL: https://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/