World food prices rise in July, driven by meat and vegetable oils

Global food prices rose 1.6 percent in July compared to the previous month, mainly due to higher prices for meat and vegetable oils, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said on Friday 8.

The increase in meat and vegetable oil indices “largely outweighed” the drop in cereal indices (-0.8%), dairy products (-0.1%) and sugar (-0.2%), according to the FAO statement, which monitors monthly the evolution of international prices for a basket of basic food products.

The vegetable oils index posted a strong 7.1% increase from June, reaching its highest level in three years, driven by rising prices for palm, soybean and sunflower oils.

Driven by high import demand, especially from China and the United States , beef and lamb prices rose, causing the global meat index to rise by 1.2%.

Poultry meat prices also rose slightly as Brazil managed to resume exports after eradicating bird flu in mid-June.

Dairy prices (-0.1%) registered a slight decline for the first time since April 2024, due to lower butter and milk powder prices “in the face of abundant exportable supply and weak import demand, especially in Asia”.

Sugar prices (-0.2%) accumulated their fifth consecutive fall due to forecasts of “a recovery in world production expected in 2025-2026, especially in Brazil, India and Thailand (…), although signs of a reactivation in world import demand have limited the decline”.