This year, grocery store prices will be higher from a year ago. But USDA economists say the increases won’t be nearly as bad as last year.
Economist Matt MacLacklan predicts an increase of about 6% 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% from the previous year. The 6% 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%.
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