The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) rice price index rose 2.8% in July from a month ago to their highest level in nearly 12 years as prices in key exporting countries jumped on strong demand and India's move to restrict some of its exports, the agency said on its Friday press release.
The FAO Food Price Index tracks monthly changes in the international prices of globally-traded food commodities. As for the FAO All Rice Price Index, it averaged 129.7 points in July against 126.2 points for the previous month.
As per FAO, the July index score was 19.7 percent higher than the last year's 108.4 points and was highest since September 2011.
The agency's overall world food price index also rose in July, rebounding from two-year lows. According to the FAO, the world food prices averaged 123.9 points in July, up 1.3 percent from the previous month while 11.8 percent below its July 2022 level.
India, which accounts for 40% of world rice exports, last month banned exports of most types of rice to curb price hikes in the domestic market. Rice prices in India has climbed to multi-year highs in recent weeks as erratic weather threatens production.
India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Pakistan are among leading exporters of rice.