UN food price index dropped in July for fourth month

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency’s global food price index dropped for a fourth straight month in July, but was still 13% higher than in July 2021, the agency reported Friday.

FAO said last month’s 8.6% decline was the steepest monthly drop in the value of the index since October 2008. The index hit an all-time high in March, immediately following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

The overall decline in the July index was led by significant drops in the vegetable oil and cereal indexes and lesser declines in the sugar, dairy and meat indexes, FAO said.

The FAO Food Price Index measures the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity groups — cereal, vegetable oil, meat, dairy and sugar.