FAO: food price index rose to 133.3 points in August 2026

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said its food price index (FFPI) averaged 133.3 points in August 2026. That is 2.5 points, or 1.9 percent, above the revised July figure. Every commodity group rose, though by different amounts. Against August 2025 the index is up 3.3 points (2.5 percent), and it remains 26.9 points (16.8 percent) below the March 2022 peak.

The cereals sub-index stood at 116.3 points, up 2.5 points (2.2 percent) from July and the highest since May 2024. Prices rose across all major grains, driven by strong demand and worries about harvests in key regions. Vegetable oils grew more expensive for the third month in a row: 196.9 points (+0.6 percent) is the highest level since June 2022. Palm and soy oil prices pushed it up, outweighing falls in sunflower and rapeseed oil.

The meat index came in at 127.9 points (up 1.0 percent), close to its level a year earlier, with poultry, pork and sheep meat all dearer. Dairy products rose for the first time in four months, to 119.2 points (+2.3 percent), but they are still 21.7 percent below the August 2025 level. Sugar posted the biggest jump, to 106.4 points, 11.3 points (11.9 percent) more than in July and the highest since June 2025. The FAO links this to supply concerns for the 2026/27 season after persistent heat and drought.

Poland in that context

For comparison, these figures can be set against Poland's consumer price index for goods and services, published by the Central Statistical Office (GUS). In annual terms (previous year = 100) inflation came in at 105.1 in 2021, 114.4 in 2022, 111.4 in 2023, 103.6 in 2024 and 103.6 in 2025. The column for 2026 is still empty, because the year has not yet closed.

The 2022 peak, when the index went above 14 percent, coincides in time with the historic peak of the FAO index. The comparison also shows that food price dynamics in Poland and worldwide do not have to move in step. The FAO index measures agricultural raw materials in international trade, not shop prices. Margins, processing, transport, exchange rates and taxes all sit between the two. That is why sugar can get almost 12 percent more expensive within a month while Poland's annual CPI stays around 3.6 percent.

What to watch next

Three numbers are worth attention: the length of the run of increases in vegetable oils (three months), the scale of the rebound in dairy products (the first rise in four months, still well below the level of a year earlier) and the record pace of sugar. If drought persists in the main regions growing sugar cane and sugar beet, pressure on that last index will not disappear quickly.