Ammon News - A report by the World Bank confirmed that food prices in Jordan continued to decline again, as they fell last January by 1% compared to December 2022.

Food prices in Jordan decreased to (-0.4%) after declining last December, to reach 0.6% compared to 3.1% in the month of November.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index decreased in February by 0.6% in the world from its level recorded in January, thus continuing its decline for the eleventh month in a row.

In light of the recent decline, the index decreased by 18.7% from its peak in March 2022, as the decline in the food price index last month reflected significant declines in the price index of vegetable oils and dairy products, along with a slight decline in the price index of grains and meat, which offsets the increase in the sugar price index.

According to the bank’s statistical data, food prices in Jordan, which imports food worth $4 billion annually, reached a “highest pace” last May at 5.8%, then fell to 4.1% in June and 3.9% in July, then to 3% in August, before rising again to 3.2% last September, and 3.5% last October.

In addition, about 87.3% of high-income countries suffer from high food price inflation and the most affected countries are located in: Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.

The price indices of agricultural products, grains and export products in the world remained stable during the past two weeks, as the price indices of agricultural products and export products increased by 1%, and the grain price index closed at the same level and the prices of corn, wheat and rice all closed within 1% of their levels two weeks ago, according to the report.

The latest Food Price Monitoring and Analysis Bulletin issued by the FAO reveled mixed trends in world grain prices in January 2023.

International wheat prices fell in January for the 3rd month in a row; International prices of coarse grains remained mostly unchanged; International rice prices rose at an accelerated rate in January 2023.

According to the report of the Agricultural Monitoring Initiative of the Earth Observations Early Warning Group (GEOGLAM) in February 2023, there is likely to be a sixth consecutive season of poor rainfall in East Africa.