April 2025: Palaw Preparation Costs Increase by 11.0%.
In April 2025, the average cost of preparing palaw in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan rose to 68.3 Turkmen manat, representing an 11.0% increase from 61.5 manat in April 2024. Compared to the previous month – March 2025, when the cost stood at 68.2 manat – this reflects a marginal month-on-month rise of 0.1%. On a global scale, food prices also continued to climb, with the FAO’s Food Price Index reporting a 7.6% year-on-year increase.
Annual Price Trends of Key Ingredients in Ashgabat
In April 2025, prices of key palaw ingredients in Ashgabat showed significant variation. Rice saw the most substantial decrease, dropping by 41.0% compared to April 2024. Carrot prices also fell, down by 13.4%. In contrast, several ingredients experienced sharp increases. Onion prices surged by 93.5%, the highest among all items, followed by beef (up 37.1%), wheat flour (up 25.5%), and sunflower oil (up 0.9%) – as illustrated in Figure 1.
FAO Price Index: Global Trends by Product Category
- The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index recorded a notable year-on-year rise of 20.7% in April 2025, largely due to tightening supplies from major exporters and sustained global demand.
- Meanwhile, the FAO Cereal Price Index – which includes wheat and other staple grains – rose by 1.2% from last month (March 2025), with global wheat prices inching up due to reduced exportable supplies from the Russian Federation.
- The FAO Meat Price Index also increased by 3.2% in April 2025 compared to last month (March 2025), with bovine meat prices strengthening particularly in Australia and Brazil, driven by steady international demand and limited export availability.
Methodology
Prices of ingredients in the Palaw Index are collected for 1 kg of onion, carrot, beef, rice, and flour, and 1 liter of cooking oil. Based on the methodology, in order to cook palaw for a family of four, we use 0.3 liters of cooking oil, 0.5 kg of onion, 1 kg of carrots, 0.6 kg of beef, 1 kg of rice, and 0.5 kg of flour in our formula. Please click here to learn more about the methodology of the Palaw Index.
