World prices for oil, metals, grain and other basic commodities and foodstuffs rose by an average of 46% as of the end of January compared to the same period last year.

This was their biggest increase since 1995, Japan's leading economic newspaper Nikkei reported on Thursday, citing experts' calculations.

The increase in prices, the publication believes, is partly due to an improvement in the business environment in the world and a sharp increase in consumer demand against the backdrop of an improvement in the epidemiological situation in a number of leading countries. An important role is also played by fears about possible interruptions in supply due to the unstable situation in a number of regions of the planet.

Of the 22 main commodities and foodstuffs, nine rose in price by more than 50% over the year. In particular, prices for coffee rose by 91%, for cotton - by 58%, for aluminum - by 53%. Natural gas, Nikkei emphasizes, is becoming more expensive under the strong influence of events around Ukraine.

Rising prices, the newspaper notes, impede a more decisive recovery of the global economy, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. According to the calculations of the International Monetary Fund, the high cost of energy carriers can reduce economic growth rates on the planet by 0.5 percentage points this year.