The World Bank updated on June 15, 2023 its’ “Food Security Update” report in which it provides a glimpse on 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 66.7% of low-income, 81.4% of lower-middle-income and 77.0% of upper-middle-income countries having inflation levels exceeding 5%, with some countries reporting double-digit inflation. The report added that 80.4% 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 were located in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia. The World Bank noted that real food price inflation (which is defined as nominal food inflation minus overall inflation) has exceeded real overall inflation in 84.5% of the 161 countries for which both food CPI and overall CPI indexes are available. Country-wise, the World Bank commented that Lebanon recorded the second highest nominal food price inflation rate in the world during the May 2022 – May 2023 period (350% annual change in food CPI), trailing Venezuela (471%) and followed by Zimbabwe (117%) and Argentina (115%). In real terms, Lebanon’s annual change in food inflation stood at 81%, trailed by Venezuela (35%), Zimbabwe (31%), and Egypt (26%). It is worth noting that the data is based on the latest month from February 2023 to May 2023 for which the food component of the CPI and overall CPI data are available. The report provided a list of the top-ten countries in terms of nominal and real food price inflation as outlined below:

The report commented that Lebanon’s FAO Food Price Index contracted by 2.6% to reach 124.3 in May, as prices of vegetable oils, cereals, and dairy dropped. The report further added that Lebanon’s wheat production increased significantly this year on the back of rising global prices, fear of shortages and distribution of free wheat seeds by the Ministry of Agriculture. The report mentioned that as of June 5 of the current year, 20 countries have implemented 27 food export bans on major food commodities in order to prevent additional internal food shortages, while 10 have adopted 14 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 2023 in addition to placing an export ban on March 11, 2022 on meat products, fish, and potatoes, among others which will span until end of 2023.