USDA: Grocery Prices Up 24% Since 2020, With 3.1% Rise Forecast for 2026

U.S. 1% in 2026 compared to 2025 bills. 4% average increase in the last year from a year earlier.

A CNBC-SurveyMonkey poll released in April found that more than half of Americans said everyday life had become less affordable over the past year. Of those, 76% pointed to rising grocery prices as a leading cause, followed by 71% citing gasoline and transportation, 37% healthcare, and 32% housing.

U.S. Grocery prices have risen by almost one-third since 2020, outpacing overall inflation. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A strain of avian influenza devastated flocks of laying hens that year, while the Russia-Ukraine war kept Ukrainian grain as well as Russian energy and fertilizer off the market. Beef prices are currently rising as cattle herd counts have reached a 75-year low due to drought and higher operating costs.

Fresh tomato prices hit an eight-year high last month, driven by rising energy costs, tariffs on Mexican tomato imports, and weather problems in Florida.

Egg prices, however, are getting cheaper as farmers rebuild flocks after the 2022 avian flu outbreak. U.S. 1% in 2026. In Dallas, a shopper pulled a gallon of milk for purchase at a grocery store on April 15, 2026.

She described food shopping as having become strategic amid the price increases. Vanessa Salmon, a resident of Benton Harbor, Michigan, who lives on a fixed income, noted that Fig Newtons cost 87 cents at Aldi in 2018 when she first moved to Michigan. 50 at Aldi.

Her son, Leo V. Leo V. Kaplan spent $70 on cooking a birthday cake, highlighting the impact of higher costs on special meals. A February survey by LendingTree found that roughly 20% of young people, families with children, and low-income households said affording food had become difficult.

By contrast, 5% of baby boomers reported such difficulty. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans are taking action to reduce costs, with 30% paying closer attention to grocery prices, according to LendingTree. One in 4 reported cutting back on splurge items or replacing brand-name purchases with store or generic brands.

One-quarter said they were paying more attention to reducing food waste and eating more leftovers. U.S. food supply, according to ReFED.

2% from 2023 to 2024. Households trimmed nearly 950,000 tons from residential food waste in 2024. m.

ET by Laurent Belsie and Victoria Hoffmann, staff writers. The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908.