The World Bank updated on July 29, 2022 its’ “Food Security Update” report in which it provides a glimpse of the year-on-year change in the food component of a country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). In details, the report revealed that food price inflation remains elevated across all countries’ income categories, with 93.8% of low-income, 89.1% of lower-middle-income and 89.0% of upper-middle-income countries having inflation levels exceeding 5%, with some countries reporting double-digit inflation. The report added that 78.6% of high-income countries with high inflation rates experienced elevated food price inflation. In addition, the report mentioned that the most affected countries by high food price inflation are located in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia. The World Bank noted that real food price inflation has exceeded real overall inflation in 78.7% of the 160 countries for which both food CPI and overall CPI indexes are available. Country-wise, the World Bank commented that Lebanon recorded the highest nominal inflation rate in the world during the second quarter of 2022 (332% annual change in food CPI), followed by Zimbabwe (255%), Venezuela (155%), and Turkey (94%). In real terms, Lebanon’s annual change in food inflation stood at 122% in the second quarter of 2022, trailed by Iran (33%), Sri Lanka (26%) and Zimbabwe (23%), only to name a few. The report noted in this respect that historic food price increases in Lebanon have caused food shortages for about 19% of the population. The report provided a list of the top-ten countries in terms of nominal and real food price inflation as outlined below:

From another perspective, the World Bank mentioned that an agreement was inked between Russia and Ukraine on July 22 to “free” more than 20 million tons of grain stuck in Ukraine’s Black Sea Ports which could have major consequences on global food security and food prices. Delving further into details, the World Bank commented that the inability of Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea Ports has greatly reduced the supply of food to import-dependent countries in Africa and the Middle-East. According to World Bank, the war in Ukraine has resulted in a 25% reduction in harvested grain area, a 37% contraction in grain production, and a 41% decrease in grain export capacity. In this regard, 18 countries have implemented 27 food export bans on major food commodities in order to prevent additional internal food shortages, while 7 other countries have adopted 11 export-limiting measures. Lebanon has implemented on March 18, 2022 export bans on processed fruits & vegetables, milled grain products, sugar and bread spanning until end of year 2022, in addition to placing a permanent export ban on March 11 on meat products, fish, potatoes, among others.