The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices weighted by the average export shares of each of the groups over 2014-2016. The FFPI is calculated as the trade-weighted average of the prices of food commodities spanning the key agricultural markets for cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meat and dairy products. While these commodities represent about 40 percent of gross agricultural food commodity trade (FAOSTAT), they are chosen for their high and strategic importance in global food security and trade.