Economic Research Report No. (ERR-314) 27 pp

January 2023

A Disaggregated View of Market Concentration in the Food Retail Industry

The food retail sector has experienced substantial consolidation and structural change over the last three decades. This report analyzes market concentration changes in the United States food retailing industry at the U.S. National, State, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), and county levels from 1990 to 2019. Market concentration at the county level is considerably higher than at the national, State, and MSA levels and rose 94 percent from 1990 to 2019.

Keywords: food retail industry, grocery stores, warehouse clubs, superstores, supercenters, Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, HHI, National Establishment Time Series, NETS, market concentration

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