February 2025: Palaw Preparation Costs increase by 1.7%.
In February 2025, the average cost of preparing palaw in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, increased to 64.0 Turkmen manat, reflecting a 1.7% rise from 63.0 manat in February 2024. This also represents a 2.8% increase from last month (January 2025), when the cost stood at 62.3 manat. Meanwhile, global food prices surged by 8.2% year-on-year, according to the FAO’s Food Price Index.
Annual Price Changes of Key Ingredients in Ashgabat
The prices of key palaw ingredients in Ashgabat fluctuated significantly in February 2025. Rice experienced the most substantial decline, dropping 34.9% year-on-year, while carrots saw a decrease of 23%. Additionally, onion and sunflower oil prices have also decreased by 15.3% and 0.9%, respectively. In contrast, beef registered the highest surge, rising by 22.5%, while the wheat flour prices increased by 2.6% (see Figure 1).
FAO Price Index: Global Trends by Product Category
- The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index surged by 29.1% year-on-year in February 2025 amid concerns over likely tightening supplies in the coming months.
- The FAO Cereal Price Index, covering wheat and other grains, declined by 1.1% on an annual basis.
- The FAO All Rice Price Index dropped by 6.8% in February, driven by ample exportable supplies and weak import demand exerted downward pressure on prices.
- Lastly, the FAO Meat Price Index recorded a 4.8% year-on-year increase.
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.
