FAO: world food prices ease in October, except for rice and sugar

The FAO Food Price Index fell in October 2026 to 133.9 points, down 1.6 points (1.2 percent) from its revised September level, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced on Friday, November 6, 2026. According to Agence France-Presse, whose dispatch was carried by Le Nouvelliste, the easing comes after several months of increases and reflects better-than-expected yields and weaker demand.

Over one year, however, the index remains 7.5 points (5.9 percent) higher than in October 2025, though it stands 16.4 percent below its March 2022 peak, according to the FAO.

Rice and sugar are the exceptions

The FAO All Rice Price Index rose 1.6 percent in October. The FAO attributes the increase to harvest delays in some exporting countries, adverse weather and rising costs.

Sugar rose sharply: its index reached 121.3 points, up 6.6 percent from September and 28.8 percent from a year earlier.

Cereals, meat and dairy down

The cereal index fell 4.5 percent to 116.8 points: wheat prices declined after four monthly increases and maize prices eased after reaching a three-year high in September, the FAO said. The meat index lost 1.2 percent (125.5 points) and the dairy index 1.1 percent (117.8 points). The vegetable oil index edged up 0.3 percent to 199.2 points.