Overall the Food Price Index averaged 179. 4 points in February 2015, down 1.8 points (1.0%) from its January 2015 value and 29 points (14.0%) below its level in February 2014, writes Amy Nora Fitzgibbon.

The Index has been on a declining path since April 2014 and it has now reached its lowest level since July 2010.

Vegetables and dairy are the only two commodity groups that have seen an increase in prices on January 2015. The rest of the groups, cereals, meat and sugar, have all seen a decline.

Cereals were down 3.2% from January, meat was down 1.4% from its revised January value, and sugar was down 4.9%.

Dairy was up 4.6% from its January value, while vegetables enjoyed a slight increase of 0.4%.