Shortages, energy crisis, historical records for metals… After the surge in commodity prices, the World Bank predicts a slowdown in 2022.

Commodity prices are soaring to record levels, to the point of threatening economic recovery. High energy and agricultural commodity prices increase the risk of inflation and food insecurity. Energy prices, for example, have exploded by 80% in 2021. For the World Bank, the economy should regain some air on this front from 2022. A barrel of oil should cost an average of 74 dollars in 2022, against 70 dollars in 2021, then 65 dollars in 2023. The decline in prices will be even sharper for natural gas and for coal, which should both fall in 2022 and 2023, after having reached historically high levels. For their part, metal prices should fall by 6% next year. After climbing by 22%, agricultural prices are expected to fall by only 1.4% in 2022.