Global hunger looms as food prices hit a record high in 2022.

The average price index of the U.N. food agency increased last year to its highest level ever as the disruption brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted worries about shortages.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday that the food price index, which analyzes the prices of the most widely traded food items on a global scale, averaged 143.7 points in 2022, a 14.3% increase from 2021 and the highest level since records began in 1990.

As the global economy recovered from the pandemic’s effects in 2021, the index had already increased by 28% from the year before.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, food prices increased as a result of concerns about delays to Black Sea traffic. Since then, they have partially given up some of their gains, in part due to the promise of better supply in the producing nations as well as a U.N.-backed grain export route through Ukraine.

In comparison to a revised 135.00 points for November, the benchmark index dropped to 132.4 points in December for the ninth straight month. The previous estimate for November was 135.7 points.

After two years of extreme volatility, lower food commodity prices are welcome, according to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.

The decrease in the index in December was caused by a drop in the price of vegetable oils on the world market, along with small decreases in grain and meat prices, but was somewhat offset by slight increases in sugar and dairy prices, according to the FAO.

While sugar was at a 10-year high, four of the FAO’s five food sub-indices—cereals, meat, dairy, and vegetable oils—had hit record highs throughout the course of 2022.

According to the FAO, severe market disruptions, rising energy and input costs, unfavorable weather, and ongoing high global food demand, all contributed to the FAO Cereal Price Index rising 17.9% in 2022.