So much for global food deflation as Middle East tensions return

The US-Iran war is heating up again, and so is our high-frequency measure of global food inflation.

CEIC’s Food Price Index compiles high-frequency sources to give daily estimates based on the same methodology as the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (@FAO), whose inflation measure is released only monthly and with a considerable delay.

Food inflation peaked in mid-May and then began retreating amid optimism about ceasefires and a lasting peace deal. By mid-June, our index was in slight deflationary territory. But hostilities resumed in July, renewing concerns about long-term shortages of energy and #fertilizer around the world. (Most recently, the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen is once again threatening the viability of Red Sea shipping.)