Briefing Rooms

Diet Quality and Food Consumption: Price Elasticity Estimates

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Table 1—Price elasticity estimates
Food quantity of	Own price	Selected price increase by 1-percent of							Income
Food quantity of	Own price	Beef	Pork	Chicken	Cheese	Milk	Oranges	Tomatoes	Income
	Percent
Beef	-0.621	-0.621	0.114	0.018	-0.026	-0.011	0.000	-0.012	0.392
Pork	-0.728	0.192	-0.728	0.013	-0.006	0.002	-0.021	-0.005	0.659
Other meats	-1.874	0.818	0.355	0.280	0.358	-0.071	0.200	0.068	-0.574
Chicken	-0.372	0.103	0.047	-0.372	-0.039	-0.058	0.001	0.097	0.077
Turkey	-0.535	0.089	0.141	-0.077	0.222	0.432	-0.056	-0.099	-0.127
Fresh and frozen fish	0.121	-0.113	0.256	-0.049	0.011	-0.431	-0.013	-0.141	0.429
Canned and cured fish	-0.372	0.009	0.104	0.059	0.129	0.198	-0.110	0.060	0.394
Eggs	-0.110	0.092	0.012	0.059	0.009	0.042	0.004	0.004	0.287
Cheese	-0.247	-0.227	-0.026	-0.069	-0.247	0.032	-0.056	-0.070	0.418
Fluid milk	-0.043	-0.013	0.012	-0.022	0.008	-0.043	-0.018	0.032	0.119
Evaporated and dry milk	-0.276	-0.074	-0.072	0.178	-0.163	-0.255	-0.055	0.067	0.515
Wheat flour	-0.078	-0.132	0.006	0.014	-0.050	0.023	0.018	0.013	0.131
Rice	0.066	0.674	0.184	-0.167	0.187	-0.193	-0.016	-0.020	0.148
Potatoes	-0.098	0.072	-0.067	0.053	-0.005	0.018	-0.078	-0.052	0.110
Butter	-0.243	0.100	0.028	0.254	-0.388	0.176	-0.028	-0.121	0.539
Margarine	-0.009	-0.202	-0.021	-0.005	0.073	0.433	0.119	0.137	-0.336
Other fats and oils	-0139	0.093	0.121	0.011	-0.060	0.017	-0.048	-0.078	0.494
Apples	-0.190	0.014	-0.021	-0.037	-0.016	-0.129	0.123	-0.107	-0.362
Oranges	-0.849	0.025	-0.225	0.004	-0.124	-0.182	-0.849	-0.038	-0.165
Bananas	-0.499	-0.070	0.007	-0.122	0.050	-0.324	-0.085	0.111	0.094
Grapes	-1.180	0.060	0.449	-0.109	-0.475	-0.059	-0.008	0.256	0.561
Grapefruits	-0.455	-0.584	-0.395	0.132	-0.012	0.553	-0.275	-0.262	-0.490
Other fresh fruits	-0.416	0.562	0.346	0.020	0.337	0.360	0.295	0.260	0.123
Lettuce	-0.090	0.038	-0.091	0.114	0.013	0.153	0.133	-0.058	0.372
Tomatoes	-0.622	-0.233	-0.051	0.330	-0.142	0.278	-0.035	-0.622	0.918
Celery	-0.078	-0.210	-0.253	0.091	-0.020	0.685	0.072	-0.146	0.725
Onions	-0.207	0.182	0.157	-0.096	-0.011	-0.074	-0.021	0.141	0.078
Carrots	-0.534	0.484	0.043	0.258	-0.178	0.225	0.097	0.329	0.675
Other fresh vegetables	-0.215	-0.557	0.090	-0.258	0.126	0.045	0.218	0.023	1.292
Fruit juices	-0.558	-0.212	-0.219	0.148	-0.100	0.062	-0.200	-0.003	0.366
Canned tomatoes	-0.169	-0.292	-0.219	0.263	0.082	0.257	-0.070	-0.200	0.868
Canned peas	-0.534	-0.529	0.019	0.144	0.283	1.104	-0.047	-0.209	0.628
Canned fruit cocktails	-0.740	0.361	0.397	0.084	-0.278	-0.212	0.205	-0.111	0.717
Peanuts and tree nuts	-0.169	-0.209	0.142	0.025	0.025	-0.183	0.105	0.057	0.099
Other processed fruits and vegetables	-0.151	-0.145	-0.045	0.049	0.022	-0.110	-0.003	0.004	0.022
Sugar	-0.037	0.108	-0.007	-0.004	0.014	0.010	-0.008	-0.006	0.006
Sweetners	-0.052	-0.044	0.067	-0.048	-0.118	-0.084	0.040	0.021	0.419
Coffee and tea	-0.176	0.033	-0.012	0.011	0.040	0.010	-0.023	-0.011	0.818
Frozen dairy products	-0.078	-0.002	0.106	0.117	-0.044	-0.143	-0.007	0.002	0.253
Nonfood	-0.980	-0.023	-0.016	-0.010	-0.002	-0.019	-0.001	-0.002	1.166
Note: Each estimate of price elasticity shows the percentage change of a food quantity in response to a 1-percent increase in a food price or per capita income. Source: USDA, ERS.

For more information, contact: Kuo Huang

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Updated date: July 16, 2008