Food price hikes are far exceeding overall inflation, with low- and middle-income countries getting hit hardest — though prices are high across the globe, the World Bank said in a new food security update that included a list of nations seeing the worst price increases.
About 94% of low-income countries, 89% of lower-middle-income countries, and 89% of upper-middle-income countries have nominal food inflation levels above 5% compared with the previous year.
Lebanon topped the ranking with 122% food inflation in real terms, compared with the same period last year. This was followed by Zimbabwe with 23%. A wide range of countries defined as middle-income also made the list, such as Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Iran.
The war in Ukraine has made the food security situation worse — so far, just one ship has left Ukraine’s ports with grain under a United Nations deal — and also led to a surge in trade restrictions. The bank tracked 18 countries that implemented 27 food export bans, while seven imposed export limits.
