Global warming to raise food prices, inflation: study

Global warming and heatwaves are expected to further increase food prices and overall inflation across the world in future, according to new research from scientists and the European Central Bank.

The impact will vary but be felt everywhere, especially in developing nations, said the paper published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment on Thursday.

Extreme weather -- including heatwaves, droughts and floods -- is becoming increasingly frequent as the climate heats up, taking a toll on key sectors of the economy, including farming and food production.

For this new study, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the European Central Bank drew on historical price and weather data from 121 countries between 1996 and 2021.

They found that rising temperatures due to climate change were predicted to drive up the cost of food worldwide between 1.49 and 1.79 percentage points every year by 2035.