The World Bank Group predicts that most countries will experience high poverty rates with the world economic situation increasingly collapsing with inflationary pressure and the possibility of recession.
The statement is supported by factors such as the surge in food prices caused by the Ukraine war, supply chain disruptions and the post-Covid-19 pandemic economic downturn.
According to the World Bank Group, it can reverse or threaten previously achieved gains.
As of July 29, the agricultural price index jumped 19% compared to January 2021, with corn and wheat prices increasing 16% and 22% in the same period.
This indirectly underlines that food inflation continues to be a major problem around the world.
In the meantime, several countries are expected to experience a 2-digit inflation rate increase based on accumulated data from March to June.
It was commented that 93.8% of low-income countries, 89.1% of low-middle-income countries and 98% of upper-middle-income countries saw inflation levels above 5%.
To make matters worse, 78.6% of high-income countries are also experiencing food inflation pressure.
In general, food prices were already high before the war hit with major commodities such as wheat, corn, cooking oil and fertilizers continuing to be under pressure.
In addition, the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2022 report shows a total of 828 million people affected by hunger in 2021, which is an increase of 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since 2019.
