The FAO Food Price Index Explained
Published · 2 min read
When news reports say that world food prices rose or fell last month, they almost always mean the FAO Food Price Index. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization publishes it early every month, with data back to 1990. This site shows it on the market reports page.
What it measures
The index tracks international prices of a basket of food commodities in five groups: cereals, vegetable oils, dairy, meat and sugar. Each group has its own sub-index, and the overall index weights them by the share each group had in world exports in 2014-2016. Those years are also the base: 2014-2016 = 100. A value of 133.3, as in August 2026, therefore means that internationally traded food cost about a third more than on average in 2014-2016.
How to read it
History gives the numbers their meaning. The index averaged about 95 in 2019, peaked at 132.7 in June 2008 and 137.7 in February 2011, and reached its record of 160.2 in March 2022, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is a nominal index: part of its long-term rise is simply general inflation. FAO also publishes a real version adjusted for inflation, which is the better basis for comparing decades (see nominal vs. real prices).
The sub-indices tell the real story
The headline number often hides more than it shows. Between August 2025 and August 2026 the overall index rose only about 2.5%, from 130.0 to 133.3. Underneath, the dairy sub-index fell from 152.2 to 119.2, about 22%, while vegetable oils rose from 169.1 to 196.9, about 16%, and cereals about 10%. For anyone interested in a particular product, the sub-index - or the individual price on this site - matters more than the headline.
What it does not show
The index measures international export prices, not what food costs in shops. Retail prices contain processing, transport, packaging, wages and margins, and they react to world prices partly and with a delay; exchange rates add another layer, since the index is based on prices in US dollars (see producer, wholesale and retail prices). A rising index is an early signal of pressure on food costs, especially for import-dependent countries - not a measure of any household's grocery bill.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What does an FAO Food Price Index value of 133 mean?
- That international food commodity prices were about 33% higher than their 2014-2016 average, which is set to 100.
- When is the FAO Food Price Index published?
- Monthly, early in the month, covering the previous month. FAO also revises recent months when new data come in.
- Does a rising index mean supermarket prices will rise?
- Not directly. It measures international export prices; shop prices also depend on processing, transport, wages, margins and exchange rates, and follow world prices only partly and with a delay.