USDA predicts grocery prices will rise 5.5% this year, largest hike since 2008 and third straight year above 2% average

Grocery prices will rise an average of 5.5% this year, which would be the highest inflation at stores since 2008, \the Agriculture Department announced Monday. "The forecast was an abrupt 2 percentage point increase from last month and was spurred by three months of rapid rises in the prices of many foods," Chuck Abbott reports for the Food & Environment Reporting Network. That would mark the third straight year straight of above-average grocery prices increases; usually they go up about 2% per year.

The war in Ukraine is primarily to blame, and higher interest rates are expected to be a factor, too. Some foods will get pricier than others, according to USDA's monthly Food Price Outlook. "Prices for meat, the biggest item on the grocery list, were forecast to rise by 6% this year compared with average meat prices during 2021 — double the usual increase of 2.9% a year," Abbott reports. "Prices for dairy products were forecast to rise by 6.5%, fresh fruit by 6.5%, and cereals and bakery products by 6.5%. Fats and oils would climb by 8.5% this year, compared with the long-run average of 2.3% a year."