Food inflation, highest in 18 months according to FAO

18 October 2024

Although inflation in September fell in the eurozone, dropping to the lowest in the last three years and beyond expectations, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) alerts that food inflation is the highest in the last 18 months, worldwide.

In September 2024, FAO’s Food Price Index rose to 124.4 points, 3% up from August and 2.1% from September last year, with global increases in the prices of sugar, cereals, dairy, vegetable oil, and meat. This increase is due to the international context and the circumstances surrounding big global agricultural producers, including Brazil, India, Canada, Ukraine, and the Southeast Asian region.

The forecast is gloomy for the near future, with food inflation expected to rise gradually from here, although at a slower rate.

Higher food prices have a disproportionate effect on households, especially on the worse-off and on children, since they may force families to consume lower-quality food products and adopt unhealthy food habits. The negative consequences of bad food habits can then last for life.

SAFE calls on the next European Commission to adopt measures to increase the purchasing power of European families, protecting their health and wellbeing, and leaving no-one behind as Europe pursues the goals of the European Green Deal. Following her promises of increasing EU funds for industry and primary production in her second mandate, SAFE calls on Commission President Von der Leyen to support the purchasing power of Europeans similarly.

In 2023, 24.8% of children aged less than 18 in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, reaching over 20 million. Around one fifth of European adults are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.