A report released by the agency’s press office states that the indicator stood at 128.3 points, which also reflects a 7.6 percent increase compared to April of the previous year, driven by higher prices for cereals, meat, and dairy products.

The analysis indicates that the cereal price index increased by 1.2 percent in April 2025 compared to March, with a slight increase in the global price of wheat, driven by a shortage of exportable supplies in Russia.

The same occurred with rice, due to increased demand for aromatic varieties, while in the case of corn, the hike in its world price was prompted by seasonal shortages in the United States.

The FAO Meat Price Index rose 3.2 percentage points, with rising prices across all categories, led by pork, amid continued global import demand and limited export availability.

Dairy products rose 2.4 percent in April this year compared to the previous month and 22.9 percent compared to the same period last year. This was influenced by a rise in the price of butter, which reached a new all-time high due to the shortage of the product in Europe.

However, the vegetable oil price index showed a monthly decrease of 2.3 percent, albeit 20.7 percentage points lower than in April 2024, given the drop in palm oil prices due to a seasonal increase in production in the main producing countries in Southeast Asia.

Sugar prices fell 3.5 percent compared to March, due to the uncertainty surrounding the global economic outlook and its potential impact on demand from the beverage and food processing sectors, which together account for the majority of global consumption of this product, the FAO adds in this analysis.

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