ROME, 2 October 2026 — The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s benchmark for internationally traded food commodities rose to its highest level in nearly four years in September.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 136.0 points, up from a revised 134.0 in August, according to figures released on Friday. The index tracks monthly changes across major global food commodity groups.
Sugar recorded the sharpest monthly rise at 6.1 per cent, while cereals increased by 5.1 per cent. Vegetable-oil prices gained 0.9 per cent, whereas the meat index declined by 1.1 per cent.
Reuters reported that adverse weather, lower United States corn-yield expectations and continued disruption to Black Sea grain exports contributed to the rise. Sugar prices reached an 18-month high and wheat futures touched a three-year high.
Despite the pressure on prices, FAO maintained its forecast for 2026 global cereal production at 2.979 billion tonnes, which would be the second-highest output on record.
The agency lowered its forecast for world cereal trade in the 2026/27 season by 0.7 per cent, citing reduced wheat and maize export expectations linked to shipping constraints in the Black Sea region.
The results underline a difficult combination for food-importing countries: strong overall production prospects alongside rising benchmark prices and fragile trade routes. The figures were checked against FAO’s official index publication and release calendar, as well as Reuters’ same-day report.
References
- FAO — Food Price Index, official monthly data
- FAO — 2026 data-release calendar
- Reuters — World food prices near four-year high in September, 2 October 2026
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