USA: In its Global Trade Outlook report, released on Wednesday, the World Trade Organization (WTO) estimated that food prices increased by 18% globally last year, with grain prices rising by 21%.

The trade organisation claims that the price of fertiliser increased by a whopping 63% year over year. Although the WTO acknowledged that higher food costs "should encourage more agricultural production, resulting in greater availability and lower prices for food in the future," it also cautioned that the use of expensive fertilisers could reduce crop yields and, ultimately, cause new price spikes.

As a result of the beginning of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, the organisation also noted that food prices experienced significant fluctuations in 2022, first rising by 19% between January and May and then falling by 15% between May and December.

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Global food supplies "remain a cause for concern," the WTO warned, even though they are "less precarious than many had feared" overall due to the Ukraine crisis. It estimates that since 2021, the volume of global wheat trade has decreased by about 7.5%, leaving "little margin for error if a major producer experiences a crop failure or climate-related natural disaster."

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On Wednesday, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged developed economies to watch out for warning signs that the food crisis is causing hunger in less developed countries. She reiterated her earlier calls for the removal of export restrictions on fertiliser and food, noting that as of April 2023, about 67 countries still have them in place.

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Additionally, she issued a warning that "external factors are likely to continue to put pressure on global trade in 2023." She cites the Ukrainian crisis and other geopolitical tensions, inflation, and the effects of tightening monetary policy as examples.

This underscores how crucial it is for governments to prevent trade fragmentation and refrain from putting up barriers to it. Long-term economic growth and improvement in people's living standards would be supported by investments in multilateral trade cooperation, she concluded.