World food prices rose in July to their highest in more than three years as adverse weather and war escalation in the Gulf and Black Sea supported crop markets, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded food commodities, averaged 131.1 points in July, up from 130.3 in June and the highest reading since January 2023.
The world faces another bout of food inflation as wars in Iran and Ukraine, along with El Nino, create a perfect storm of higher costs and lower crop yields, the FAO's chief economist told Reuters this week.
A 3.4% month-over-month rise in the FAO's cereal price index drove the July trend, fueled in turn by a 5.8% jump in wheat prices, the agency said.
Wheat markets were affected by concerns over Black Sea export disruptions and heat damage to crops in key producing regions, it said.
