Charts of the Week
FAO Food Price Index
Chart of the Week for May 18, 2012 - May 24, 2012
Global food prices, as measured by the Food Price Index of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ("FAO”), hit record levels in 2011. This index covers a basket of 55 food commodities in five basic groups: cereals, dairy, meat, oils/fats, and sugar. High food prices were cited by some analysts as a factor in the civil unrest that befell some developing countries last year. Since then, however, food prices have declined nearly 10% and "seem to have stabilized at a relatively high level" according to the FAO's May 3, 2012 report.
Food prices have a larger impact outside of the U.S. since food only consumes a small portion of the average U.S. household budget and U.S. food price inflation has been relatively mild. According to the latest Consumer Price Index report, food inflation rose 0.2% in April 2012 and 3.1% in the one-year period ended April 2012.
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