U.S. food prices rose by 23.6 percent from 2020 to 2024

From 2020 to 2024, the all-food Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 23.6 percent, a higher increase than the all-items CPI, which grew 21.2 percent over the same period. Transportation prices grew the fastest across categories, with an increase of 34.4 percent between 2020–24, while housing increased at a similar rate as food, by 23.0 percent. Food price increases in 2020–21 were largely driven by shifting consumption patterns and supply chain disruptions resulting from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2022, food prices increased faster than any year since 1979, due in part to a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which compounded other economy-wide inflationary pressures such as high energy costs. Food price growth slowed in 2023 and 2024 as wholesale food prices and these other inflationary factors eased across industries.