This year, grocery store prices will be higher from a year ago, but USDA economists say the increases will not be nearly as bad as last year.
Economist Matt MacLacklan predicts an increase of about 6 percent this year.
“Without a major change in trends, we don’t expect to be going over 6%", he said. “For food at home, we are expecting prices increases to be between 4.4 and 6.1%. Right now, year to date, if we were to take just the average prices we have observed from July, we’re at 4.8% compared to 2022.”
Food shoppers last year saw grocery prices increase 11.5 percent from the previous year. The 6 percent estimate for this year is on top of that increase, as prices have not come down.
For next year, USDA estimates prices will increase another 2 percent.
