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Global food prices declined again in December, falling by 1.5 per cent from the previous month and ending the year 10.1 per cent below its year-earlier level, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said.

The FAO said that in December, prices rose for dairy products and grains and cereals, but were more than compensated for by lower prices for sugar, vegetable oils and meat.

Grains and cereals, the largest component in the index, saw their prices rise 1.5 per cent.

However, they still ended the year 16.6 per cent below levels from December 2022, according to the FAO. Dairy prices gained 1.6 per cent in December but were down by 16.1 per cent for the year.

The FAO said the gains for the month were due to higher demand for butter, whole milk powder and cheese. The other sub-indexes all lost ground for the month.  The biggest declines were in sugar prices, which slipped 16.6 per cent compared to that in November, falling to their lowest level in nine months.

Strong production

Prices fell due to strong production levels in Brazil. Nevertheless, despite the sharp fall in December, the sugar sub-index was still up for the year, with prices 14.9 percent above levels from December 2022.

Prices for vegetable oils were down by 1.4 per cent, contributing to a 32.7-per cent decrease for 2023 as a whole.

The end-of-year decrease was due to a fall in prices for palm, rapeseed, soy and sunflower seed oils, due to weakening demand. Meat prices declined 1.0 per cent in December, and 1.8 per cent for the year. The fall in prices over the final month of the year was due to lower demand for pig meat in Asia, offsetting a slight increase in demand for ovine meat.