ROME, Sept 7 (Reuters) - World food prices fell 1.3 percent in August from the month before after three straight monthly increases, reflecting lower values for cereal, sugar and meat, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 176.6 points in August, down 1.3 percent from July.

Despite the monthly drop, food prices on international markets remained 6 percent above their values last August.

FAO raised its forecast for global cereals output in the 2017-18 season, to 2.611 billion tonnes, slightly above last year’s record harvest. The agency also raised its forecast for global wheat production to 748.8 million tonnes. (Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Crispian Balmer)