Food import costs globally to reach $2 trillion this year: FAO

Rome / WAM

Food import costs globally are projected to reach nearly $2 trillion this year, or higher than previously expected, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a report.
The new forecast of $1.94 trillion would represent an all-time high and a 10 percent increase over the record level of 2021.
However, the pace of increase is expected to slow down in response to higher food prices and the depreciation of currencies against the United States dollar, according to the latest Food Outlook report.
Food prices rise worldwide following the Ukraine crisis but have somewhat decreased. Together, these countries produce around 30 percent of all wheat exports, in addition to other grains and related foodstuffs.
Although the bulk of the increase in the global food import bill will be accounted for by richer countries, rising food costs have disproportionately affected poorer nations.
The aggregate costs for food imports for low-income countries is expected to remain almost unchanged, even though it is predicted to shrink by 10 percent in volume terms, pointing to growing accessibility issues for these countries.
“These are alarming signs from a food security perspective, indicating importers are finding it difficult to finance rising international costs, potentially heralding an end of their resilience to higher international prices”, FAO said.
The Food Outlook report, which is published twice a year by the agency’s Markets and Trade Division, warns that existing differences are likely to
become more pronounced.
High-income countries will continue to import from the entire spectrum of food products, while their developing world counterparts will increasingly focus on staple items.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a new Food Shock Window to provide emergency financing to lower-income countries.
FAO has welcomed the move, calling it an important step to ease the burden of soaring food import costs. The report also assesses the expenditures on imported agricultural inputs.
This year, the global bill is expected to jump by nearly 50 per cent to $424 billion, or some 112 percent over 2020, driven largely by higher costs for imported energy and fertilisers.
“Negative repercussions for global agricultural output and food security” are likely to
extend into 2023, said FAO.