FAO: Food Prices Highest Since 2022, Sugar Jumps 11.9%
The world's food price index rose in August to its highest level since November 2022, with sugar posting the biggest single jump of the month at 11.9 percent.
The food price index kept by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stood at 133.3 points in August, according to data the organization released on September 4. That marks a monthly rise of 1.9 percent from a revised July figure of 130.8 points, and a year on year increase of 2.5 percent. The index has not been this high since November 2022.
It still sits roughly 17 percent below the record set in March 2022, reached just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. But the direction is unmistakable: prices rose in August across all five categories FAO tracks, cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy.
FAO chief economist Maximo Torero explained the trend in a statement from the organization:
The rise in global food prices is a warning that a risk premium is returning to food markets: climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disrupted logistics flows are combining and compressing supply expectations.
Sugar sees the sharpest rise
The single biggest jump came from sugar, up 11.9 percent for the month to its highest level since June 2025. The cause is weaker output in Brazil’s center south region, the world’s largest exporter, compounded by concerns over El Nino’s effect on production in Asia and India’s announcement that it will import raw sugar duty free.
Cereal prices climbed 2.2 percent, reaching their highest point since May 2024. Wheat rose 2.6 percent from July and as much as 15 percent from a year earlier, driven by disruptions to Black Sea exports and weaker European harvests after a summer of heat and drought. Corn rose 2.5 percent, partly on supply disruptions following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while rice edged up 0.5 percent. Vegetable oils gained 1.1 percent, dairy rose 2.3 percent, and meat added 1 percent.
In a separate cereal report issued the same day, FAO lowered its forecast for global cereal production in 2026 by 3.4 million tons, to 2,980 million tons. That is 2 percent below 2025 output, but still the second largest harvest on record. The world’s cereal stocks to use ratio for the close of the 2026/27 season is projected at 31.6 percent, slightly down from the previous estimate of 31.9 percent.
FAO points to extreme heat and drought in Europe, the expected impact of the El Nino weather pattern, and trade disruptions caused by the wars in Ukraine and Iran as the drivers behind the downgrade.
France announces 1 billion euros in aid
The damage from summer heat and drought in Europe already carries a concrete price tag. The French government has announced 1 billion euros in emergency aid for farmers whose crops, pastures and water supplies were damaged by extreme weather. Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told reporters the package represents a major effort given the current budget constraints, coming as the French government prepares a politically sensitive budget ahead of the 2027 presidential election. About half the funds, 520 million euros, will go toward rapid payouts for weather related losses, while the rest covers land tax relief, help with social security payments and fuel subsidies.
The French farm union FNSEA estimates this summer’s production losses will exceed 10 billion euros, with damage to livestock and crop farming separately already put at more than 5 billion euros. A new heat wave has been forecast this week in France, the European Union’s largest agricultural producer.
The figures FAO tracks reflect world market prices, not supermarket shelves, so the effect of August’s spike on domestic food prices typically shows up with a lag of several months.
