Global Grocery Bill: Food Prices at All Time High
January 5th, 2011 - 11:19 pm ICT by Angela Kaye MasonJan 5 (THAINDIAN NEWS) According to a report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, otherwise called the FAO, the world’s grocery bill reached an all time high last year. With the rise in the prices of sugar, oil, and cereal, the Food Price Index of the FAO rose to a record high last month in December, which was even higher than in June of 2008, when a shortage of food lead some countries into a crisis state.
The monthly change for the cost of food such as cereal, oil seeds, sugar, meat, and dairy is measured by the FAO index. In November, that number was 373.4 points, but by December it had risen to 398.4 points. The cereal price index of items like wheat, corn, and rice has risen to the highest ever recorded since August of 2008. The sugar index jumped to an all time high as well.
According to Abdolreza Abbassian, economist for the FAO in an interview with Reuters, “We are concerned, the real reason for concern is the unpredictability. There is still room for prices to go up much higher, if for example the dry conditions in Argentina tend to become a drought, and if we start having problems with winterkill in the northern hemisphere for the wheat crops.”
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- UN: World food prices to remain high into 2012 - Jun 07, 2011
- Hindus ask for speedy solution to global food prices hike - Jan 07, 2011
- World food prices may remain high next year: FAO - Jun 08, 2011
- Global food import bill may top $1 trillion in 2010 - Nov 17, 2010
- Boosted supply of food staples pushes prices down: UN - Jun 03, 2010
- Global food prices drop, but remain relatively high: UN - May 04, 2012
- Food prices rise on costlier oil: World Bank - Apr 26, 2012
- India's inflation rises to 8.31 per cent - Mar 14, 2011
- Food inflation comes down sharply (Lead) - Jun 30, 2011
- Indian recovery seen pushing global wheat output 3.4 percent - Mar 24, 2011
- India's inflation overshoots target, at 8.98 percent in March - Apr 15, 2011
- Food inflation dips to six-year low, relief for consumer (Second Lead) - Dec 29, 2011
- Food inflation dips to 0.42 percent; WPI may fall to 6 percent: Pranab (Lead) - Dec 29, 2011
- Food inflation slips marginally, still above comfort level - Oct 13, 2011
Tags: cereal, corn, cost of food, crisis state, drought, economist, fao, food and agriculture organization, food price index, food prices, global grocery, grocery bill, northern hemisphere, oil seeds, real reason, reuters, united nations, unpredictability, wheat crops, winterkill