The World Bank updated on February 29, 2024 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 60.0% of low-income, 66.0% of lower-middle-income, 50.0% of upper-middle-income and 36.4% of high-income countries having inflation levels exceeding 5%. 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 71.0% of the 167 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 January 2023 – January 2024 period (181.0% annual change in food CPI), trailing Argentina (296%) and followed by Venezuela (91%) and Türkiye (70%). It is worth noting that the data is based on the latest month from October 2023 to January 2024 for which the food component of the CPI and overall CPI data is available. The report provided a list of the top-ten countries in terms of nominal food price inflation as outlined below:

The report mentioned that as of February 26 of the current year, 16 countries have implemented 23 food export bans on major food commodities in order to prevent additional internal food shortages, while 8 have adopted 15 export-limiting measures. The report also presented an emerging issue pertaining to rice export. More specifically, the report stated that India’s export ban on rice, which was implemented in July 2023 in an effort to stabilize domestic prices, continues to affect global rice markets. The importing countries that were most affected by the export ban on rice, according to the World Bank, were located in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, which forced them to search for alternatives. In figures, global rice production was estimated at 583,000 tons for the 2023-2024 marketing year while rice exports have dropped by 5% (3.8 million tons) during the same period. With regards to Lebanon, the report mentioned that the country has implemented on March 18, 2022 export bans on processed fruits & vegetables, milled grain products, sugar, and bread, spanning until end of year 2024.

From another perspective, the report noted that the effects of the conflict in Gaza have spread into Lebanon, thereby affecting livelihoods and food security, especially at its Southern border. The report added that key sectors in the country, namely trade, tourism, hospitality, agriculture and aviation have been significantly affected, with more than 65,000 individuals becoming displaced. Furthermore, the report estimated the overall economic damage on Lebanon at $1.5 billion.