UN agency says world food prices fall 3.3% in December

World food prices fell in December from the month before, as dairy, vegetable oils and sugar values declined sharply, the UN food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 169.8 points in December, down 3.3 per cent from November.

In 2017 the index averaged 174.6 points, up 8.2 per cent from 2016, reaching its highest annual value since 2014 although food on international markets was still 24 percent cheaper than in 2011.