Consulting Report
20 May 2024

Climate Change and Food Prices in Southeast Asia: 2024 Update

Commissioned by ASEAN Food and Beverage Alliance (AFBA) and Food Industry Asia (FIA)

In 2022, Oxford Economics published our first joint report with Food Industry Asia (FIA) on climate change and food prices in ASEAN countries. In this new report, we extend our previous analyses for more countries and over a longer time frame.

We find that a 1% increase in the average temperature raises food producer prices by 1-2% across Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Our analysis also suggest that food production costs would rise by 31-59% in a scenario in which the world achieves net zero emissions by 2050, compared to the current baseline (in which credibly announced policies are carried through).

The impact of physical and transition risks on food prices calls for ASEAN governments to protect consumers and ease the impact of climate transition. The good news is that ASEAN policymakers are facing a golden opportunity to leverage rising foreign direct investment inflows to the region to upgrade its food sector. In 2022, the region accounted for more than a third of global FDI inflows, up from just one fourth in 2012.

Furthermore, the report makes an economic case for global cooperation to ease the cost of transition for ASEAN food producers. ASEAN accounted for 9.1% of global food exports in 2021, up from 6.6% in 2000. This highlights ASEAN’s increasing importance in safeguarding global food security and avoiding a cost-of-living crisis.

The experts behind the research

Our Macro Consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project were:

Thang Nguyen
Thang Nguyen-Quoc

Lead Economist, Macro Consulting

Theng Theng Tan
Theng Theng Tan

Economist, Macro Consulting

Related reports

Double the Pain: The Burden of Unpredictable Excise Taxes & High Inflation on Beer Producers & Consumers in South Africa

The Burden of Unpredictable Excise Taxes & High Inflation on Beer Producers & Consumers in South Africa

Find Out More
The Economic Contribution of International Spirits in Hong Kong

This report presents an assessment of international spirits’ contribution to the Hong Kong economy. It explores how rebalancing the tax structure on spirits towards a specific tax system could potentially provide a more effective tax policy instrument and enable Hong Kong to benefit further from the sector’s economic contribution.

Find Out More
Consumers in a shopping mall
The future of the middle class in emerging markets

Our latest whitepaper reveals that the middle class population in emerging markets is set to double over the next decade, expanding from 354 million households in 2024 to 687 million households by 2034.

Find Out More
Spirits: global economic impact study 2024

On behalf of the World Spirits Alliance (WSA), and in collaboration with the IWSR, Oxford Economics undertook the first ever truly global economic impact assessment of the production and sale of spirits across 185 economies in 2022. The study found that the production and sale of spirits supported $730 billion in GVA contributions to global GDP, as well as 36 million jobs and $390 billion in tax revenue for governments across the world.

Find Out More