World Food Index Ends Year Where It Began After Dramatic Run

  • UN gauge ended 2022 down 1%, after record high in March
  • Prices still remain historically high, squeezing consumers
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After a year marred by disruptions from the war in Ukraine and extreme weather, global food prices ended 2022 roughly where they started.

A United Nations’ index of food-commodity costs soared to a record in March, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine crippled vital flows of grain and vegetable oils from the breadbasket nation. Prices then slid as a Black Sea crop-export deal and good harvests in other growers buffered supplies, before steadying toward year-end.