World food prices fell further in December and even fell below their level of a year ago, at the end of a year marked by soaring prices, announced Friday, January 6 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

By following the trends, it is possible to see the change in international prices of a basket of commodities, fell by 1.9% compared to November 2022.

We can see that this is the ninth consecutive decline after the record increase in March following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The index averaged 132.4 points in December, “1% lower than its value a year earlier. However, for 2022 as a whole (…) the index averaged 143.7 points, 14.3% higher than the average value for 2021,” the FAO says.

“It is a good thing that food prices are calming down after two very volatile years,” said Máximo Torero, FAO Chief Economist, adding that it was important to “remain vigilant and focus on mitigating global food insecurity.

The price rate for vegetable oils, down 6.7 percent, is pulling this monthly decline. It falls to its lowest level since February 2021, with palm, soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oil prices all falling in December.

The FAO Cereal Price Index fell by 1.9% from November, due to increased wheat supplies following harvests in the southern hemisphere and a drop in world corn prices.