Since the start of 2019, wheat prices have increased by 15 per cent, beef prices are up by 20 per cent and lamb prices are up by 25 per cent. The prices of canola, sugar and cotton have also increased sharply over the past year.
Graph 10  Australia’s Terms of Trade* 2018/19 = 100 index  index  120  120  100  100  80  80  60  60  40  1901 *  1941  1981  40 2021  Annual data from 1870 to 1959; quarterly data from September 1959 Sources: ABS; Gillitzer and Kearns (2005); RBA  Graph 11  Rural Commodity Prices January 2016 = 100, SDR index  Total  index  Beef  125  125  100  100  index  Lamb  index  Wheat  150  150  100  100  50  50  2018  2021  2018  2021  Sources: Bloomberg; Landmark; MLA; RBA  These higher commodity prices are welcome news and they are helping the national recovery.