The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 124.9 points in January 2025, down 2.1 points from December 2024. The highest value for the index in the past 23 years was reached in March 2022. However, the rate of food price increases has been decreasing since.

Food prices worldwide The annual FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) by category shows that the price of vegetable oils grew by a particularly large margin. One of the factors that influenced the spike in oil prices worldwide during 2020 and 2021 were the supply-chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, after the war in Ukraine, shipping costs and grain prices also had a noticeable impact on global food prices. Global food prices are calculated to have increased by 3.68 percent, due to changes in shipping costs and grain prices. The European Union (EU) has experienced a particularly high increase in the annual consumer prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, as compared to other selected countries worldwide. Inflation in Europe

The inflation rate for food in the EU grew from 0.2 percent in May 2021 to 19.2 percent in March 2023, as compared to the same month in the previous year. In the following months, the food inflation started decreasing again, reaching 1.86 percent in April 2024. The overall inflation rate in the Euro area reached its peak in December 2022 at 9.2 percent. The rate has since fallen to 2.4 percent in December 2024. As measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), inflation rates in Europe were highest in Turkey, North Macedonia, and Romania as of December 2024.

According to a survey carried out between October and November 2024, consumers in Hungary were the most likely to be expecting food prices to increase. Some 86 percent of South African survey respondents stated they expected the cost of their food shopping to increase in the coming six months. In comparison, half of Japanese respondents said the same.

Food price increases hit the egg category the hardest between December 2021 and December 2022 in the United States. The price of eggs increased by 32.2 percent in 2022. However, in 2023 it only increased by 1.4 percent.

Since 2015, the consumer price index (CPI) of food in the United States has increased every year except for 2016, when the CPI decreased by 0.8 percent. The increase of CPI for food compared to the previous year was the highest in 2022, at 9.9 percent.

Online inflation of food products followed the trend of physical stores and showed a significant peak in 2022. In North America, online food prices went up by 7.46 percent that year, before decreasing to a 2.77 year-over-year percentage change in 2023. By 2025, online prices of food products might increase by 2.19 percent in the considered region.

In January 2025, the 12-month inflation rate for food items in the United States was at 2.5 percent. That month, egg prices increased by over 50 percent compared to January 2024. Inflation for sugar and sweets saw an increase at 4.3 percent.

In October 2024, the inflation rate for food prices in the United Kingdom was measured at 1.9 percent. A period of continuous deflation between March 2015 and January 2017 preceded a return to a sustained rise of the cost of food from February 2017 onwards. While food prices were deflating between September 2020 and July 2021, they started increasing rapidly from August 2021 to March 2023. The inflation rate started to decline from April 2023. Inflation rate and consumer price indexInflation is commonly measured via the consumer price index, which illustrates changes to prices paid by consumers for a representative basket of goods and services. An annualized percentage change in the price index constitutes a measure of inflation. In order to maintain an inflation rate at a stable level, to enable the general public and businesses to plan their spending, the Government set a two percent inflation target for the Bank of England. The discounter boom The increase in food prices in the United Kingdom has shifted shopping behaviours amongst consumers. Value is now key and shoppers are changing their retailer loyalties. Aldi, the German discount supermarket retailer, overtook Morrisons as Great Britain's fourth largest supermarket in September of 2022. Aldi's market share reached double digits for the first time in April 2023. It is yet to be seen if Lidl, Aldi's discounter competitor, can also continue to rise up in the ranks and eventually take over Morrisons as the fifth leading food retailer.

Since 2019, food prices have increased every year. In 2022 and 2023, prices went up drastically in many countries. For example, in the European Union, inflation reached almost 12 percent compared to the previous year and increased another 12.6 percent in 2023.

In July 2024, the food price index in New Zealand had risen by around 0.6 percent in comparison to the same period of the previous year. The rising cost of food products contributed to the overall increasing cost of living in the country.

When surveyed in December 2023, some 67 percent of respondents in the U.S. stated that they expected grocery prices to increase. This figure peaked at 81 percent in June 2022.

This statistic depicts the consumer price index (CPI) for food in the United States from 1960 to 2024. In December 2024, the consumer price index (CPI) for food amounted to 333.57, compared to the period from 1982 to 1984 (=100).

Food price inflation in Latin America and the Caribbean reached 147.11 percent in September 2024 compared to the same month the previous year. This dramatic increase reflects a persistent trend of rising food costs across the region, with some countries experiencing particularly severe inflationary pressures. The surge in food prices has significant implications for household budgets and food security throughout Latin America. Regional variations and contributing factors While the overall trend shows a sharp increase in food prices, there are notable differences among countries in the region. Venezuela and Argentina consistently rank among the nations with the highest food price inflation, while Panama and Ecuador have experienced relatively lower rates. The consumer price index for food in Latin America and the Caribbean jumped from 425.38 points in June 2023 to 1,223.53 points in June 2024, representing an increase of over 158 percent. This rapid escalation in food costs has put considerable strain on consumers across the region. Global context and consumer impact The food price inflation crisis in Latin America is part of a broader global trend. Zimbabwe, for instance, recorded the highest level of real food inflation worldwide between December 2023 and April 2024, with a 46 percent increase compared to the previous year. Argentina followed with a 20 percent increase. The impact on consumers is significant, with many finding it increasingly difficult to afford healthy and sustainable food options. In Argentina, 62 percent of respondents reported difficulty in purchasing such foods due to a lack of affordability, an increase of seven percentage points from 2021. Similar challenges were observed in other Latin American countries, including Peru, where the share of respondents reporting difficulties rose from 19 percent to 25 percent between 2021 and 2023.

In the 52 weeks ending on June 18, 2023, the pet food product with the most significant price per unit increase was semi/moist cat food, with about 66 percent. The two products with the lowest cost per unit increase were dog and cat treats.

In the U.S., the consumer price index (CPI) of food increased across many categories from 2022 to 2023. Cereal and bakery products saw the most drastic change between 2022 and 2023, when the CPI for this category increased by 8.4 percent.

In February 2025, the 12-month inflation rate in the United States was at 2.8 percent. While some non-products continued to see increases in prices, such as personal care and housekeeping supplies, prices for other categories saw decreases. In that month, the CPI for appliances fell by 7.4 percent in the U.S..

In 2020, food prices in Italy increased by 1.3 percent compared to 2019. The prices of food items could experience a even higher increase in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, for instance, food prices were projected to grow by 1.7 percent compared to 2021.

In 2022, nearly 57 percent of respondents in the United States stated that they had to pay more for the same item of food or beverages. Moreover, nearly 23 percent of respondents stated that they had to buy substitute products.

When surveyed in 2023, some 92 percent of survey respondents in Portugal stated that the importance of food prices had increased over the past 12 months. This is a five percent increase compared to the previous year's survey. The share of respondents who said that the cost of food had increased in importance decreased in only Spain and Poland.

In 2024, German consumer prices in general increased by around 2.2 percent compared to the year before. Retail prices rose by around 1.6 percent., while prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by almost two percent. The timeline shows the year-on-year change of consumer, retail and food prices in Germany from 2000 to 2024.

In January 2024, the seasonally adjusted consumer price index (CPI) for food and beverages in the United States increased by 2.5 percent compared to the same period in 2023. On the other hand, the CPI for food and beverages in the country in January 2023 increased by 9.9 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. The highest change was registered in August 2022, when the consumer price index for food and beverages increased by 10.9 percent compared to August 2021.