Economy, investment and finance

Data insights

Economic, investment and financial data provide vital measurements of economies' health, overall development and capacity for growth. This collection of thematic insights explores critical dimensions of national accounts, economic potential and price signals.

Prices of minerals, ores and metals further rocketing in February 2026, though at slightly reduced pace

Year-on-year change in UNCTAD Commodity Price Index by commodity group, percentage

UN Trade and Development, UNCTADstat.

The index has been modified in September 2025 to now only take data from sources accessible through automated online extraction routines, leading to (in general) small differences in the index values. For more information, see the related methodology note. The tables of individual commodity prices have been discontinued.

The UNCTAD Commodity Price Index was 8.8% higher in February 2026 than a year earlier. The sub-index of minerals, ores and metals continued rising rapidly (+58.6%), however at a slightly slower pace than in January. This strong growth was partly offset by declines in prices of food (-10.8%) and fuels (-9.5%). Prices of agricultural raw materials remained almost stable (+0.3%).

The 9.5% decrease of fuel prices, year-on-year, hides a substantial drop of natural gas prices, which plummeted by 32.5%, while prices for oil and coal increased.

Due to their continued increase, prices of minerals, ores and metals reached a new record high, scoring nearly three and one half times as high as ten years ago.

Data updated on 2 Apr 2026

Commodity prices rose by 1.5% in 2025; the index excluding fuels hit a record high

UNCTAD Commodity Price Index, 2015=100

UN Trade and Development, UNCTADstat.

The index has been modified in September 2025 to now only take data from sources accessible through automated online extraction routines, leading to (in general) small differences in the index values. For more information, see the related methodology note. The tables of individual commodity prices have been discontinued. 

The UNCTAD Commodity Price index recorded a slight rebound in 2025 (+1.5%), after a slight drop in the previous year. This recovery was driven by minerals, ores and metals (+27.3%), while fuel prices decreased (-8.7%) and prices of food and agricultural raw materials remained almost unchanged. The index excluding fuels reached its highest level ever in the 30 years of its compilation.

Data updated on 10 Feb 2026