Ten Countries With High Cost in Consuming Food

Ten Countries Where It Costs More to Feed a Family

Rise in global food prices, caused by uncertain weather in major agricultural regions and higher production costs, has sparked unrest in many countries .Consumers in markets that depend on imported food products such as rice in Haiti, Chile, and Mozambique are the most exposed and will eventually feel the effects of the current rise in global food prices, but that impact may not be immediate, says Concepción Calpe who is a senior economist for the FAO in Rome. High international prices do not always translate into high domestic prices, she adds, due to variations in exchange rates, tariff barriers that limit imports, domestic price policies, such as price subsidies, and transport costs. Here below is the list of countries where it costs more to feed a family.

Retail Food Prices: 

Chile

Consumer food price change*: +5.45% YOY
Chicken legs**: $5.45/kg (+15.47% YOY)
Potatoes**: $0.90/kg (-23.73% YOY)

The Chilean Central Bank estimates that food accounts for 20 percent of household expenses, reported santiagotimes.cl. Government economists expect spending on food to increase at least 5 percent this year. 

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China

Consumer food price change*: +10.3% YOY
Potatoes: $0.64/kg (+33.33% YOY)
Rice: $0.79/kg (+29.51% YOY)
Wheat flour: $0.59/kg (+18% YOY)
Pork: $3.44.kg (+19.03% YOY)

Food prices, up 10.3 percent year-on-year in January, helped drive consumer prices up 4.9 percent from a year earlier, according to government figures. China’s northeast has also experienced severe drought, threatening its wheat crop, although officials claim it will not affect global food prices.

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Haiti

Consumer food price change*: +7.8% YOY
Corn: $1.06/kg** (+15.22% YOY)
Rice: $1.36/kg** (+8.80% YOY)

Haiti meets 48 percent of national food requirements through imports, 47 percent through local production, and 5 percent through food assistance, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. Food price increases adversely affect low-income populations such as Haiti’s, which has not recovered from the effects of last year’s earthquake. 

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India

Consumer food price change*: +7.98% YOY
Onions: $1.07/kg (+109.8% YOY)
Potatoes: $0.19/kg (-17.39% YOY)
Rice: $0.50/kg (no change)
Wheat: $0.32/kg (-3.03% YOY)

A government-ordered suspension of onion exports in India, reduced import duties on onions, and imports from such markets as Pakistan helped to bring down onion prices significantly after they soared late last year. Onion farmers protested in early February to lift the ban on exports and allow prices to rise.

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Indonesia

Consumer food price change*: +16.18% YOY
Rice: $1.01/kg (+24.69% YOY)
Wheat flour: $0.79/kg (no change)

Indonesia’s consumer price index rose nearly 7 percent in December, the biggest jump in 20 months, due largely to higher prices for food, the biggest part of the CPI basket. The government has suspended import duties on 57 food items to prevent supply shortages and get prices to cool off.

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Mozambique

Consumer price change*: +16.62% YOY
Corn: $0.40/kg (+14.29% YOY)
Rice: $0.91/kg (+13.75% YOY)

After violent protests broke out in Mozambique last September over the rising costs of water, electricity, and bread, the country once again faces a threat of higher food prices later this year, the government recently warned. About a third of households are food insecure and face perpetual hunger, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. 

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Nicaragua

Consumer price change*: +7.26% YOY
Red beans: $1.50/kg (+61.29% YOY)
Corn: $0.39/kg (-13.33% YOY)
Rice: $0.97/kg (-6.73% YOY)

Nicaragua is the second-poorest nation in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. About a third of GDP is derived from agriculture, timber, and fishing. While consumers face higher prices, many of Nicaragua’s export products, especially coffee, have benefited from the recent rise in international commodity prices, according to the U.S. State Department.

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Pakistan

Consumer food price change*: +20.42% YOY
Rice: $0.55/kg (+7.84% YOY)
Wheat: $0.31/kg (no change)

Consumer prices in Pakistan rose 14.2 percent year-on-year in January, according to the country’s statistics bureau. Nonperishable food items rose 17.3 percent and perishable food items 44.4 percent year-on-year. Items with the steepest increases include mung beans, onions, and tomatoes.

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Russia

Consumer food price change*: +14.2% YOY
Potatoes: $1.02/kg (+85.45% YOY)
Rice: $1.55/kg (+6.9% YOY)
Wheat flour: $0.75/kg (+11.94% YOY)

Food imports to Russia rose 23 percent, to $3.72 billion, in 2010 as drought reduced Russia’s agricultural production, according to the Federal Customs Service. Prices for fruit and vegetables in Russia were 51 percent higher in January than a year earlier, reported Bloomberg.com.

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U.S.

Consumer food price change*: +1.5% YOY
Potatoes: $0.58/lb* (+3.93% YOY)
Rice: $0.73/lb* (-3.06% YOY)
Bread: $1.88/lb* (+7% YOY)

U.S. food prices were relatively stable compared with other countries. The food index rose 1.5 percent in 2010 following a decline in 2009, according to a release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs had the largest increase, at 5.5 percent, followed by the dairy index at 3.7 percent. Nonalcoholic beverages and cereals and bakery products were the only indexes to decline.

Sources: Bloomberg