The Agriculture Department is out with its first food price forecast for next year. 

Participants: Gary Crawford and USDA economist, Megan Sweitzer.

Transcript

The Agriculture Department is expecting food price inflation for this year to be only 1 percent.

And for 2025?

Just slightly lower than what we're expecting in 2024.

Agriculture Department economist Megan Switzer says the long-range historical data and current trends all point to another year of very slow, almost no, food price inflation.

To put it in context?

So for food at home or grocery prices, last year we saw prices increase by 5 percent in 2023.

This year in 2024, we're forecasting those grocery prices to increase by 1 percent.

And then next year, looking into 2025, we're forecasting grocery prices to increase by 0.7 percent.

Seven-tenths of 1 percent.

That is, of course, barring any unforeseen shocks to the food system, such as we saw during COVID.

Gary Crawford for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.