World food prices rose in March to their highest level since September 2025, as higher energy costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East pushed up key agricultural commodities and raised the risk of further increases later this year, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 128.5 points in March, up 2.4 percent from February and 1 percent above its level a year earlier, although still nearly 20 percent below its March 2022 peak.
FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said the rise had so far been “modest,” cushioned by ample global cereal supplies, but warned that if the conflict lasts more than 40 days and fertiliser and energy costs remain elevated, farmers could cut input use, plant less or shift to less intensive crops, hurting yields and keeping food prices higher into 2027.
The sharpest monthly increases came from sugar, up 7.2 percent, and vegetable oils, up 5.1 percent, while wheat prices rose 4.3 percent. In a separate update, the FAO slightly raised its 2025 global cereal production forecast to a record 3.036 billion metric tons, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier.
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