Global food prices down by 19% in 2015, says FAO

International food prices dipped by 19% in the last year, the fourth consecutive annual fall, due to substantial decline in dairy, sugar and veg oil prices according to the United Nations food agency.

The maximum fall was witnessed in dairy prices, which fell by 28.5% compared to 2014, marking its lowest since 2009. It was followed by sugar prices, which were down by 21 from 2014 levels, as per the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) price index.

Similarly vegetable oil prices also came down last year by 19% in comparison to 2014 prices, while cereal prices fell by 15.4% in 2015. The meat prices also came down by 15.1% in the last year.

Abundant supplies in the face of a timid world demand and an appreciating US dollar are the main reasons for the general weakness that has dominated food prices in 2015, the FAO said in its monthly food price index.

"Over the full year, the index has averaged 164.1 points, nearly 19% less than in 2014, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline," the FAO said.

The FAO food prices index averaged 154.1 points in December 2015, down 1.5 points (1%) from its revised November value, with international prices of all the food commodities used in the calculation of the Index falling, except for sugar and oils.

FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices, weighted with the average export shares of each of the groups for 2002-2004.