The Indicator of Food Price Anomalies is a statistical warning gauge, not the price of rice or an inflation rate. It compares recent price movements with their historical pattern to identify unusually strong or weak pressure. A reading of -1.51 does not mean rice became 1.51% cheaper; it means Cambodia’s rice-price movement was unusually weak relative to its past.
The reversal follows positive readings of 1.91 in 2023 and 2.42 in 2024. It also moves below the previous low of -0.97 in 2020. The “record low” label is technically correct, although the annual series extends only from 2015 to 2025. Cambodia’s latest reading was also well below the comparison group’s 2025 average of -0.35 and median of -0.45 across 57 countries.
There is evidence that this reflects conditions in the rice market rather than an unexplained statistical break. The FAO GIEWS country brief on Cambodia attributed falling rice prices in 2025 to ample supplies from a record 2024 harvest, favorable production prospects and reduced exports that left more rice available domestically.
For consumers, that points to less pressure from a staple food cost. For rice growers and sellers, however, persistently weak prices can squeeze revenue. The anomaly index cannot show how much households paid at shops or farmers received at the farm gate; it shows that the direction of the market has shifted unusually far compared with Cambodia’s own recent history.