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Food policy monitoring in the Near East and North Africa region. 3rd Quarter 2023 | Bulletin

Year of publication 2023

Place of publication Cairo, Egypt ;

Pages 35

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Journal, magazine, bulletin

Edition Fourth edition

Synopsis (short abstract) Global commodities and food prices continued their downward trend in the third quarter of 2023; however, food price inflation remains a great concern in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region. While the oil-exporting Gulf countries are faring well through the ongoing macroeconomic challenges, other NENA countries are struggling with high energy and input costs, economic challenges, domestic currency depreciation and serious food insecurity in the conflict zones. Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are expected to lack the resources to deal with reported critical problems of food insecurity.

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2023. Food Policy Monitoring in the Near East and North Africa Region. 3rd Quarter 2023 | Bulletin. Cairo.

Language English

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    Global food prices have continued to drop at a slower pace in recent months; however, they are still well above the price levels observed in 2020. Commodity prices are set to fall gradually in 2024 and stabilize in 2025. However, conflict-driven oil supply disruptions create a significant upside risk for price forecasts. The food consumer price index is currently the highest in the Near East and North Africa among all world regions, with Lebanon, Egypt and the Syrian Arab Republic experiencing the highest food price inflation. However, in most countries of the region, food prices show a steady or decreasing trend.
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    Although international commodities and food prices have declined over the past 12 months, domestic food price inflation remains high in many countries of the Arab region, partly due to domestic currency depreciation and continued high energy, transportation, and insurance costs. The average food consumer price index in the NENA region was 18.2 percent at the beginning of July 2023, according to the FAO Data Lab price nowcasting tool, and was elevated in the following countries: Algeria (18.9 percent), Egypt (67 percent), Lebanon (328 percent), Mauritania (14 percent), Morocco (15.3 percent), Sudan (28.2 percent), and Tunisia (16.2 percent). Conversely, Jordan and the oil-exporting Gulf countries have low food inflation rates (below 5 percent). Raising cash for foreign debt repayments has become an increasingly difficult task for many countries in the region (except for oil-exporting Gulf countries). This decreases the financial space to maintain the price support of basic staple food in real terms and safeguard social safety net measures, which, in turn, threatens to aggravate food insecurity.
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