World food prices bounced back in August following two consecutive months of decline, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday.

The FAO Food Price Index rose 3.1% month-on-month, averaging at 127.1 points in August, the UN body said in a statement.

Strong gains in the sugar, vegetable oils, and cereal sub-indices drove the increase.

The FAO Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index that tracks international market prices of five major food commodity groups.

Reflecting higher palm, rapeseed, and sunflower seed oil prices, the vegetable oil price index jumped 6.7% from July's five-month low.

Sugar surged in August by 9.6% in its fifth monthly increase in a row and hitting the price index's highest level since February 2017. This stemmed from concerns over frost damage on crops in Brazil -- the world's largest sugar exporter.

The cereal price index went up 3.4% on a monthly basis with reduced harvest expectations in several major exporting countries.

The meat price index was marginally up from July, while the dairy price index was the sole sub-index posting a decline in August./agencies