The Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO), a United Nations agency stated on Friday that the cost of vegetable oil surged sharply in October, pushing global food prices to their highest level in 18 months.
Last month, the FAO Food Price Index, which monitors monthly shifts in global prices of a selection of food items, increased by 2% from September to 127.4 points. Even though it was the highest since April 2023, it was still 20.5% behind the peak that was attained in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, a country that is a major producer of agricultural products.
Continuing, due to decreased production, vegetable oil prices rose 7.3% in October to a two-year high. Cereal prices increased by 0.8%, dairy prices increased by 2.6%, and sugar prices increased by 2.6%.
BrandSpur digital news platform reports that the only commodity to decline was meat, which fell 0.3 percent from the previous month.
