PARIS (Reuters) -World food commodity prices rose in July to their highest in more than two years, driven by rising international prices for meat and vegetable oils, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which serves as a global benchmark for food commodity prices, averaged 130.1 points in July 2025, marking a 1.6% increase from June, FAO said.

That was the highest reading since February 2023, though the index was 18.8% below its peak of March 2022, which followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In July, gains for meat and vegetable oil prices outweighed declines observed in cereal, dairy and sugar, FAO said.