15 Chief Economists Outlook people to face acute food insecurity in 2023 – a sharp increase from 193 million in 2021 – with 45 million on the brink of famine. 16 However, there are some reasons for optimism about food price trends. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index recently returned to the same level as before the invasion of Ukraine, following the extension of the Black Sea deal that facilitates exports of grain from Ukraine’s ports. 17 On energy costs, over 80% of respondents expect a significant adverse impact in both developing and developed economies. 15 IMF Data, November 2022. 16 WFP and F AO, September 2022. 17 F AO, November 2022. Figure 7. Living standards Which of the factors below are likely to have a significant adverse impact on living standards in 2023? Share of respondents (%) Extremely unlikely Somewhat unlikely Neither likely nor unlikely Somewhat likely Extremely likely High-income economies Energy costs Food costs Debt servicing costs Core inflation Wage dynamics Low-income economies High-income economies Low-income economies High-income economies Low-income economies High-income economies Low-income economies High-income economies Low-income economies 9 14 14 5 23 9 9 5 36 45 14 27 27 5 59 32 5 27 45 50 14 9 36 45 9 59 9 9 36 50 18 55 14 27 5 55 9 55 27 S ou rc e: Chief Economists Survey, December 2022 On food costs, t here is a notab le d ivergence in the expected impact between hi gh- and low-income coun tries. This is refle cted in the much higher pro portion of chief economists saying that fo od costs are ext re mely likely to have signific ant adverse impa ct in low- income economies (50%) compared to high-income eco nomies (14%). Overal l, an adverse impact o n living standards f rom food costs is expe cted by 69 % in high- income economies and 86% in low- income economies. This is also evident in the hard data, with low -income countries re cording food price inflat ion of 29%, compared to a global average of 19%. 15 The World Food Programme now esti mates up to 222 million