Americans Spent More on Food in 2022 Than Ever Before, Even After Inflation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) keeps the Food Expenditure Series, a full measure of the value of all food bought in the United States, split between food at home, from grocery stores and similar outlets, and food away from home, from restaurants and the like. Government agencies, researchers and industry use it to follow how Americans buy food. The 2022 update, published in June 2023, showed a record.

A 25-year climb

Adjusted for inflation, annual U.S. food spending rose 70 percent from 1997 to 2022, to the highest level recorded. The climb was steady apart from small dips in the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 and a 6.4 percent drop in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Spending on food away from home rose 89 percent over the period; food at home rose 53 percent.
• Real total spending grew 11.4 percent in 2021 and 3.4 percent in 2022, driven by eating out, which was up 19 percent and then 8 percent. Real food-at-home spending rose 4 percent in 2021 and fell 2 percent in 2022.

Inflation-adjusted spending on food at home and away from home, 1997 to 2022. USDA ERS.

Eating out takes the larger share

In 2022, food away from home took 53.9 percent of all food spending, the largest share since ERS began tracking it, and food at home the other 46.1 percent. The shares do not match the amount of food bought: meals out cost more because restaurants pay for the labour to cook and serve, and for buildings, equipment and utilities. Eating out's share has grown for two decades, apart from small dips after the Great Recession and a 9.7 percent fall in 2020, the first year since 2004 that it made up less than half of food spending.

Shares of inflation-adjusted food spending, 1997 to 2022. USDA ERS.

The pandemic reshuffled where people bought food

Restaurants. In April 2020, compared with April 2019, spending fell 71 percent at full-service restaurants, 32 percent at limited-service, or fast-food, restaurants and 40 percent at other places such as bars and hotels. Fast-food outlets, with limited menus and little contact with customers, adapted more easily and were back to pre-pandemic spending by the second half of 2020, while full-service restaurants took longer despite adding takeout and delivery.

Spending at full-service, limited-service and other away-from-home outlets compared with 2019. USDA ERS.

Stores. As people stocked up, spending at grocery stores in April 2020 rose 10 percent over a year earlier, while warehouse clubs and supercenters fell 3 percent and other outlets, such as convenience stores and home delivery, fell 10 percent. Grocery spending later levelled off, averaging 6 percent higher in 2021 and 2022, against 4 percent at warehouse clubs and supercenters. The outlets hit hardest at first ended up 15 percent above 2019, suggesting that shoppers who first ran to grocery stores for reliability grew comfortable with other stores offering delivery and curbside pickup.

Food-at-home spending by outlet compared with 2019. USDA ERS.

Prices and choices

Food prices rose almost 10 percent in 2022, more than three times the average of the previous 20 years, and prices at grocery stores rose even faster, 11.4 percent, so real food-at-home spending fell. Households facing higher prices buy less, eat out less or look for cheaper choices. Even so, food-at-home spending stayed above 2019 levels, and it still took 46 percent of food budgets in 2022.

Spending on eating out fell sharply in 2020 but recovered in 2021, passing 2019 levels by midyear as restaurants reopened, takeout grew and people returned to work. In 2022 it held about 11 percent above 2019, even though restaurant prices averaged 15.5 percent higher than in 2019, suggesting that some households, perhaps helped by rising wages, chose to spend more of their budgets eating out.

Inflation-adjusted food-at-home spending and prices compared with 2019, January 2020 to April 2023. USDA ERS.

Inflation-adjusted food-away-from-home spending and prices compared with 2019, January 2020 to April 2023. USDA ERS.

State by state

A new State-Level Food Expenditure Series, published in May 2023 and running two years behind, covers all 50 states and Washington, D.C., since 1997. From 2019 to 2020, inflation-adjusted food spending per person fell everywhere. The smallest drops were in Iowa (2.2 percent), South Carolina (2.6 percent) and North Carolina (4.1 percent); the largest in Hawaii (15 percent), Washington, D.C. (13.9 percent), Florida (11.8 percent) and Nevada (11.6 percent), places that normally draw many tourists and workers from out of state.

Percent change in per person food spending by state, 2020. USDA ERS.

Sources

• USDA Economic Research Service, "U.S. Consumers Spent More on Food in 2022 Than Ever Before, Even After Adjusting for Inflation"; rewritten in hubnx's own words. Charts: USDA ERS.
• USDA ERS, Food Expenditure Series.