Food prices are less volatile than fuel prices

Food prices typically move in the same direction as fuel prices, often with a slight lag, as it takes time before fuel costs are incorporated into food prices. Although the direction is often the same, the sizes of the price swings differ. Over the past two decades, motor fuel prices experienced double-digit annual price swings, and the average annual change in food prices (2.8 percent) was lower than both household energy (3.7 percent) and motor fuel prices (7.2 percent). Food prices grew 9.9 percent in 2022, slower than the 17.7 percent price increase for household energy and the 32.1 percent price increase for motor fuel.

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