The global price of meat has reached a historic high, rising sharply over the past year.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) food price index , which measures monthly fluctuations in the global prices of a basket of five food commodities, has shown that MEAT prices have risen by almost 10% since the beginning of the year.

In August, the average score for the meat category, which includes beef, pork, poultry, and lamb products, was nearly 128 points, a record high since the indicator's inception three decades ago.

Prices for beef and lamb have risen particularly, while prices for pork and poultry have remained virtually stable.

FAO senior economist Monika Totowa told BBC Mundo that the record reflects a combination of meat EXPORT shortages in several major producing countries and robust global demand for imports .

According to the expert, "animal disease outbreaks, as well as ongoing tensions and uncertainty regarding the direction of trade policy" are factors that have further fueled price increases.

To protect themselves from market fluctuations, some importers stockpile meat as a way to anticipate potential trade disruptions.

From a climate perspective, droughts and other extreme weather events have become more widespread, affecting the entire production chain.

Rising beef prices

The price of beef has risen not only due to supply shortages in countries such as Brazil and the United States , but also due to other factors such as the high cost of livestock feed, energy, labor and transportation.

Added to this are high interest rates, which increase the costs for entrepreneurs to obtain financing.

Caption: The price of beef steaks in the US has increased by 12% over the past year.

According to Totowa, the price also rose because in many countries the market was concentrated in the hands of a few large meat processors, which have significant market power, which limits competition and increases pricing power.

All this is happening against the backdrop of uncertainty regarding trade policy, such as the introduction of tariffs, sanitary restrictions in some countries, or changes to trade agreements, the economist notes.

Andrés Oyenard, an expert at the consulting company Tardáguila Agromercados, has observed how US beef supplies have declined in recent years.

"The cattle population in the US is currently at its lowest level in 70 years," he explains. "Only now are there signs that fewer cows are being sent to slaughter to replenish the lost population," as part of a process known as animal conservation.

Livestock reproduction and growth cycles take time, so it could take until mid-2027 for the animal population to recover, he told BBC Mundo.

Brazil, a leading beef exporter, is also slowly moving into a cattle conservation phase (to encourage breeding) with the aim of restoring its supply in the future.

"The thing is, because prices are so high, there's an incentive to keep fishing," Oyenard says.

The price of Brazilian beef has risen thanks to strong global demand, which has offset reduced access to the US market after President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff.

Caption: "It's pure mathematics: it's all about supply and demand," says Jilly Greed.

Looking at the global situation, you can see that beef prices have risen sharply in many parts of the world.

According to the World Beef Report (WBR), the price of a fed or slaughtered bull has increased by 54% in the European Union, 33% in the United States, 26% in Brazil and 17% in Mexico compared to the same period last year in September this year.

This does not mean that the final price paid by consumers has increased by the same amount, as it is influenced by many other factors in the production chain, such as the volume of meat imported, taxes levied, transportation costs, the structure of the supply chain, and the level of competition between meat processors and retailers.

Prices for SUGAR and dairy products are falling

Caption: Sugar prices on international markets fell by 21% year-on-year.

While global meat prices reached a record high, the FAO index, which tracks five food categories, fell in September.

The so-called food price index averaged 128.8 points in September, marking a significant cumulative drop of almost 20% from the record high reached in March 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The average fall in food prices in September was generally driven by lower prices for sugar and dairy products, which offset the rise in meat prices.

Sugar prices have fallen so much that they have fallen by 21% year-on-year, reaching their lowest level since March 2021, due to higher-than-expected sugar production in Brazil.

At the same time, favourable crop prospects in India and Thailand following heavy monsoon rains, coupled with plantation expansion, also contributed to lower prices.

Meanwhile, dairy product prices fell in September for the third consecutive month. Prices for butter , skim MILK powder , and whole milk powder fell, while cheese prices declined slightly.

Elsewhere, grain prices (including commodities such as wheat, maize and rice) have fallen by almost 7% over the past year, while the cost of vegetable oils on international markets remains 18% above the previous year's level.