Food prices keep on increasing, and it does not seem the global economy is recovering after the pandemic blow.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and their Food Price Index, they went up even more rapidly over the last month with the higher rates of the decade.
The new data shows that food prices in May were almost 5% more expensive than in April, the largest monthly increase since October 2010 and almost 40% higher than the same month in 2020.
One of the biggest reasons is, of course, the pandemic. Suppliers were affected by production, manufacturing, and transportation interruptions. But the demand for the most basic foods such as cereals, dairy products, vegetable oil, meat, and sugar.
With this high demand and low production, people all over the world are experiencing one of the highest inflation rates in history. Countries with the longes pandemic lockdown seem to be facing the worst economic consequences.
But there are other and more complex reasons why food has become more expensive. The war in Ukraine, for example, has disrupted exports of basic items, hurting the global food supply and its prices. Labor shortages and climate issues, such as droughts, are causing a negative impact on crop yields.
The avian flu outbreak this year has also affected the supply of poultry and eggs, which in turn contributed to increasing consumer costs. Although experts say that price increases could slow down next year, they are still likely to stay high, at least through the end of the year, as we approach the holiday festivities.
Another sector that is suffering from high inflation is the real state. Interest rates in mortgages and other state-related prices could also keep undergoing an increase while salaries have a hard time catching up.
