Food Inflation:
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 140.9 points in July 2022, 8.6% down from its previous month’s level and marking the steepest monthly drop since October 2008.
- It is expected that Food Inflation may ease faster than expected.
- It is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.
- It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices weighted by the average export shares of each of the groups over 2014-2016 (Base Year).
- It was introduced in 1996 as a public good to help in monitoring developments in the global agricultural commodity markets.
- FFPI hit an all-time-high of 159.7 points in March 2022, the month that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
- The latest index reading (July 2022) is the lowest since the 135.6 points of January 2022, before the still-ongoing war.
- Between March 2022 and July 2022, the FFPI has cumulatively declined by 11.8%
