UK think tank ranks SL world’s fifth least affordable nation for basic food

• 66% of average wages per person would need to be spent to afford minimum recommended amount of food for an adult

Sri Lanka has been ranked the fifth poorest country in the world in terms of food affordability, according to a latest report by United Kingdom (UK)-based think tank, Institute of Development Studies.

The country rankings were based on the ‘Cost of Food Basics’ analysis that compares the monthly minimum recommended spend on food per adult and monthly average wage in 107 countries globally. 

For the analysis, the research team has utilised the data published on publicly available global cost-of-living database, Numbeo, in June this year.

The minimum recommended amount of food is based on 12-14 basic items that together would account for 2,100 calories per adult per day which is the level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Committee on International Nutrition.

The ‘Cost of Food Basics’ found that, more than one year since the outbreak of COVID-19, there was a vast disparity between countries in terms of the proportion of average wages needed to afford enough food.
Sri Lanka was the fifth least affordable nation for basic food, according to the analysis. 

The monthly minimum recommended expenditure for food per person in Sri Lanka was US$ 161.23, while the average monthly wage per adult in the 
country stood at US$ 245.81.

“This means that 66 percent of average wages per person would need to be spent to afford the minimum recommended amount of food for an adult. This is before considering other costs such as feeding their family or expenses including rent, transport, utilities and other non-food purchases,” the researchers pointed out. 
In contrast, in neighbouring India, the recommended minimum monthly expenditure on basic foods accounted for only 27 percent of monthly wages.

Sri Lanka’s food inflation has been growing by double digits during the last few months, while the real wages of private sector and informal sector workers have recorded a contraction due to the pandemic. 

According to 2020 Global Food Security Index (GFSI), high agricultural import tariffs (above global average), food inflation and absence of comprehensive food safety-net programmes with a national coverage remain key weak indicators in food affordability.  

The top 10 countries where basic food was least affordable were Syria, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Indonesia, Algeria, Iran and Uzbekistan.