How have energy, metals and food prices moved since 1960?

The World Bank's all-commodities index stands at 122 in August 2026 (2010 = 100), but in inflation-adjusted terms it is 51% of its June 2008 peak. Energy is 45% of its June 2008 real peak, metals and minerals 65% of April 1974, and grains only 19% of February 1974.

The first chart is in cash terms and the second removes US inflation (2024 dollars), which turns the steady upward drift of the first into a series of booms and long declines. Each index is a weighted average of the benchmark prices in its group; the weights and 2010 base are the World Bank's. The peaks in the early 1970s, in 2008 and around 2022 are the episodes the supercycles explainer discusses.

Cash prices (2010 = 100)

All commoditiesEnergyMetals and mineralsGrainsOils and meals

Adjusted for inflation (2024 dollars)

All commoditiesEnergyMetals and mineralsGrainsOils and meals

Price indices against their real peaks
Index	Latest (cash)	Real, % of peak	Real peak	Real change, 10 years
Grains	119	19%	February 1974	+11%
Oils and meals	119	19%	July 1973	−7%
Other food	119	20%	November 1974	−18%
Beverages	176	20%	April 1977	+34%
Agricultural raw materials	98	29%	May 1960	−1%
Timber	83	32%	July 1993	−33%
Energy	118	45%	June 2008	+46%
All commodities	122	51%	June 2008	+33%
Base metals	165	62%	April 1974	+72%
Metals and minerals	146	65%	April 1974	+65%

World Bank Commodity Price Data (the Pink Sheet) monthly indices, 2010 = 100 (the all-commodities index averages 100 in 2010), deflated month by month with the US consumer price index (BLS via FRED). The real lines are on the same numeric scale as the cash ones. Prices are monthly averages and are not investment advice.

More patterns

Concentration: How much of each commodity comes from one country?
Producer or exporter?: Is the biggest producer also the biggest seller abroad?
Prices in real terms: Which prices are records once inflation is removed?
Growth and decline: Whose output is rising or falling fastest?
Linked prices and seasons: Which prices move together, and which have a season?
Reserves and mining: Where are the deposits, and who digs them up?
Supply concentration: Which commodities depend on the fewest suppliers?
Land or yield?: Did output grow because farmers planted more or farmed better?
Supply shocks and prices: When world output falls, do prices rise?
Drawdowns and volatility: How far do prices fall, and do they recover?
Stocks and prices: Are prices lower when the world holds more stock?
Which prices follow oil?: How closely does each commodity track crude oil?
How reliable is the data?: How much of world output rests on estimates?
Net exporters and importers: Who is a net seller and who a net buyer?
Country leaders: Which countries lead across the most commodities?
Export dependency: Which countries rely on one commodity?
Concentration over time: Has production spread out or narrowed?
Import dependency: Which countries buy most of a commodity from one supplier?
Supplier shifts: Who gained and lost importers' business?
Trade price against benchmark: Does traded product sell above or below the benchmark price?
Prices in other currencies: How much of a price move is the dollar?
Do prices lead each other?: Does one commodity price move before another?
Volatility over time: Are prices more volatile now than they used to be?
Seasonality: Which prices have a calendar-month pattern?
Price ratios: What does one commodity buy of another, and is that high or low?
El Niño and prices: Do El Niño and La Niña years move commodity prices?
Who consumes it: Which countries consume each commodity, and how much per person?
Self-sufficiency: Which large markets depend on imports, and which produce far more than they use?
Trade flows: Who sells each commodity to whom?

Every figure is computed from the same tables as the commodity pages. The full set is in patterns.json, and single facts from it appear each day on the facts page.