The total cost of food consumed in Malta in 2005 amounted to Lm213.8m, accounting for 14.4 per cent of total private final expenditure, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

This was equivalent to an expenditure of around Lm1.35 per person per day. Major categories of food expenditure included bread and cereals, meat and milk, cheese and eggs.

This consumption was in part met through imports of food, which in 2005 amounted to Lm131.7 million. In the same year, food exports from Malta amounted to Lm30.7 million. Local production of vegetables and fruit amounted to Lm7.2 million in 2005, while that of fish stood at Lm2.5 million.

Food prices rose by an

average of 1.7 per cent in 2005, reflecting mainly the impact of higher prices for frozen meat, sugar, bread and vegetables. Food prices that were lower during the year included those for pasta, biscuits and processed vegetables.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations will be commemorating the 61st anniversary of its foundation in 1945 on Monday by means of the World Food Day, which this year has the theme Investing in Agriculture for food security.