World food prices fell in October for the first time in four months, as cheaper cereals, meat and dairy outweighed a sharp jump in sugar, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in new data released on Friday, November 6.

Source: FAO

133.9 pointsFAO Food Price Index, October 2026
-1.2%Change from September
-4.5%Cereal Price Index
+6.6%Sugar Price Index — highest since Dec 2024

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 133.9 points in October 2026, down 1.6 points (1.2 percent) from its revised September level. The index was 5.9 percent above a year earlier but 16.4 percent below its March 2022 peak, according to the FAO data reported by ReliefWeb and South Korea's agriculture ministry via AJP.

Grains lead the fall; rice bucks the trend

The Cereal Price Index fell 4.5 percent to 116.8 points. World wheat prices declined after four consecutive monthly increases, largely reflecting subdued international demand and an improving production outlook, particularly in Argentina, the FAO said. Maize prices also eased after reaching a three-year high in September, while the FAO All Rice Price Index rose 1.6 percent as harvest delays and adverse weather pushed prices up.

The Meat Price Index fell 1.2 percent to 125.5 points, with pig, sheep and cattle meat cheaper and poultry broadly stable. The Dairy Price Index fell 1.1 percent to 117.8 points as butter and cheese prices dropped on ample supplies and subdued buying, outweighing further rises in milk powder prices.

Sugar soars to its highest since December 2024

The Sugar Price Index jumped 6.6 percent to 121.3 points — its fourth consecutive monthly increase and its highest level since December 2024, and 28.8 percent above a year ago — driven by rain-related harvest disruption in Brazil and production concerns in India, Thailand and the European Union, the FAO said. Vegetable oil prices edged up 0.3 percent to 199.2 points.

In its Cereal Supply and Demand Brief released the same day, the FAO forecast world cereal production at 2,999 million tonnes in 2026 — down from the 2025 record but still the second-highest on record. Rice production is forecast to contract for the first time in four seasons, falling 2.5 percent to 552 million tonnes, reflecting weak producer margins and adverse weather linked to El Niño.

Why it matters for Punjab and India

Cheaper world wheat, maize, meat and dairy ease pressure on food bills and imports, but the sugar surge — with India itself among the producers facing production concerns — and a forecast fall in world rice output are the two numbers Punjabi farmers, traders and households will watch most closely.