The World Bank updated on September 14, 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 52.6% of low-income, 86.0% of lower-middle-income and 64.0% of upper-middle-income countries having inflation levels exceeding 5%, with some countries reporting double-digit inflation. The report added that 73.2% 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 81.0% of the 162 countries for which both food CPI and overall CPI indexes are available. From another perspective, the report stated that the global commodity market is still perturbed by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the recent export ban on rice placed by India which has completely rattled the rice market and resulted in price spikes. Country-wise, the World Bank commented that Lebanon recorded the second highest nominal food price inflation rate in the world during the July 2022 – July 2023 period (279% annual change in food CPI), trailing Venezuela (402%) and followed by Argentina (116%) and Türkiye (74%). In real terms, Lebanon’s annual change in food inflation stood at 27%, trailing Egypt (32%) and followed by Türkiye (15%), Suriname (14%), and Rwanda (13%). It is worth noting that the data is based on the latest month from May 2023 to August 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:

According to the report, the second edition of the Integrated Food Security Food Classification (IPC) for Lebanon revealed that circa 1.4 million individuals, including Lebanese residents (811,000 individuals), Syrian refugees (540,000 individuals), Palestinian refugees (54,000 individuals), and Palestinian refugees from Syria  (11,000 individuals) are facing acute food insecurity between May and October 2023. More specifically, some 112,000 individuals were categorized as IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and 1.3 million individuals were placed in the IPC Phase 3 (Crisis). The report stated in this respect that the observed results were slightly better than results of the first edition of the IPC analysis for Lebanon amid a greater access to US Dollars, more employment opportunities and price stability (in US Dollars). The report mentioned that as of September 11 of the current year, 19 countries have implemented 27 food export bans on major food commodities in order to prevent additional internal food shortages, while 7 have adopted 12 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.