World food prices fell slightly in December, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said on Thursday.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 133.7 points in December, down 0.9% from November, the organization said, noting that the index tracks developments. monthly international prices of the most commonly traded food products in the world.
The only monthly increase recorded in December is to be attributed to the dairy sub-index, she said, recalling that over the whole of 2021 the FAO Food Price Index stood at 125 , 7 points, not less than 28.1 percent more than the previous year.
The FAO Cereal Price Index reached its highest annual level since 2012 and rose 27.2% compared to 2020, said the FAO, adding that maize recorded an increase of 44.1% and wheat from 31.3%, but rice yields 4%.
As for vegetable oils, the FAO Price Index fell 3.3 percent in December, while that of sugar fell 3.1 percent since November, falling to its lowest level in five months, due to fears about the possible repercussions of the Omicron variant on global demand, the weakening of the Brazilian real and the drop in ethanol prices.
The FAO Meat Price Index remained broadly stable in December, but over the full year 2021 it was up 12.7 percent from 2020.
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