Most Americans Believe Grocery Prices Will Keep Rising Despite Talk Of ‘Peak Inflation’

A customer shops in a Kroger grocery store in Houston, Texas on July 15, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Most Americans believe that groceries have risen drastically over the past year and expect to pay more in the future, despite economists’ talk of “peak inflation.”

The latest poll by Rasmussen Reports found that 85 percent of 1,000 American adult respondents said that food prices have risen since 2022.

Meanwhile, only 9 percent said they disagree, and 6 percent said they are unsure.

Inflation and shortages of key food items have caused the price of grocery items to surge over the past year.

The price of eggs had spiked 60 percent year-over-year in December, after a series of suspicious egg farm fires, tainted bird feed, and an Avian flu outbreak that killed roughly 60 million egg-laying birds nationwide in 2022, Fox News reported.

Eggs are seen at a grocery store in Washington on Jan. 19, 2023. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Overall food prices in America increased 10.4 percent year-on-year last December, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There was an additional 11.8-percent increase in food prices at home and an 8.3-percent increase in the cost of dining out.

The report also showed that overall inflation spiked 6.5 percent in December compared to the previous year.

However, the percentage of respondents who believe the price of groceries was up a year ago is slightly down from last August when it was 89 percent.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans say they believe the price of groceries will be higher a year from now, with 22 percent expecting to pay “about the same.”

Another 10 percent said they would pay a lower amount, and 12 percent were unsure.

The same amount, or 57 percent, said that rising food prices had changed their eating habits, while 37 percent said it did not, and 6 percent were unsure.

A cashier processes a customer's order in a Kroger grocery store in Houston, Texas, on July 15, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Political affiliation seems to be a factor in opinion.

Seventy-three of Republicans said they expect grocery prices to be higher a year from now, while 45 percent of Democrats predict that food costs would be higher.

Fifty-five percent of independents believe that grocery prices will increase.

Food Inflation Concerns Largely Along Economic Lines

Not surprisingly, the higher the income level, the less likely a respondent admitted to changing their eating habits.

Seventy-three percent of those who made under $30,000 and 64 percent who made between $30,000 and $50,000 were concerned about rising food prices.

Fifty-nine percent of those who made between $50,000 and $100,000, and 47 percent of those who make between $100,000 and $200,000, have changed or restricted their food purchases due to inflation.

Only 23 percent of those who make over $200,000 have changed their grocery buying habits.

The poll was taken from Jan. 23 to 25 with 1,000 respondents over the age of 18, with a three percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level.