Sources: FAO. (2014-16=100).
The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a composite measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of five commodity group price indices weighted by the average export shares of each group over the 2014-2016 period.
- Meat price. The average export market prices of bovine, pig meat, poultry meat, and bovine meat.
- Dairy price. The combined price of butter, skim milk powder, whole milk powder, and cheese.
- Cereals price. The combined price of wheat, maize, and rice.
- Oils price. The combined price of soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, groundnut, cottonseed, copra, palm kernel, palm, linseed, and castor oil.
- Sugar price. Based on the average International Sugar Agreement price.
The trade and consumption of food commodities have notably changed over the last three decades with periods of inflation and deflation. Because the world’s population grows steadily and predictably, the trade and consumption of food do not vary significantly. The fluctuations in food prices are mainly attributable to weather events, such as a drought in a large producing region as well as changes in energy prices since agriculture requires substantial energy inputs.