MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Food inflation in Latin America reached 8.9% in June, the highest in 2012

Food inflation in the overall inflation index was up from 32% in December to 38% in June

Food inflation in Latin America and the Caribbean reached 8.9% in June compared to the same month in 2011, which means the highest so far this year, according to a report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO.

The increase was influenced by the rises in the annual averages of Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico while food inflation was down in El Salvador and Paraguay according the monthly report from the FAO regional office in Santiago de Chile.

Meanwhile overall inflation in the region continues its descending trend and between January and June dropped from 6.9% to 6%.

“The gap between annual food inflation and overall annual inflation expanded three percentage points, something not seen since April 2009” said Raul Benítez FAO regional representative.

Therefore the incidence of food inflation in the overall inflation index also was up, “from 32% at the end of 2011 to 38% in June 2012”.

Mexico was the country that registered the highest increase in the region: in June the rate was above 8%, which was unseen since October 2009, while in Costa Rica it was 5.7% and Panama 9.4%.

In El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua annual inflation both overall and in food have slowed their rhythm of growth. In South America, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador suffered slight ascending movements, while in Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela the trend was downwards.

In Paraguay for the fourth month running the annual rate is negative for food prices, minus 1.6%.

If only the countries with food inflation are considered, the greatest incidence comes from chicken, tomatoes and onions.