US inflation: Which foods rose the most in price and which fell the most in 2023?

Residents of the US have had to carefully watch what they have been purchasing due to high levels of inflation. In June 2022, this reached its highest rate in decades with year-on-year inflation reaching a mighty 9.1 percent.

This rate has been declining. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the rate last month fell to 4.9 percent. As this is the inflation data for all products, food only plays a part in the data and is in fact increasing at a rate higher than the average.

The changing food prices this year

When inflation reached the 2022 peaks, so did the prices of various foods with basic products such as eggs, butter and meat rising to never before seen prices. According to figures from the United States Department of Agriculture, these were the foods that increased in price the most between April 2022 and April 2023.

Beef, veal and pork also rose considerably, although not to the level of the listed products. The fall in food inflation began to be noticed more significantly during the last quarter of 2022, especially in beef, pork and fresh fruits.

The indices that decreased the most from March to April include: oranges and mandarins (-3.8%), frankfurter sausages (-2.9%), citrus (-2.7%), bacon and related products (-2.2%) and fresh whole milk (-2.1%).

Will prices continue to fall or will they rise?

While grocery price increases are starting to slow, they’re still high. In addition, the Department of Agriculture forecasts that food prices may rise in 2023, albeit at a slower rate than in 2022.

Increased prices are being driven in the US primarily by price gouging; profit-price inflation. Companies are using the excuse of increased costs of labour, energy, and materials as an excuse to hike up prices. Wages grew at a 5% rate in 2022, nowhere near the inflation rate for basic necessities such as fuel, which grew in price by a whopping 41%.