Following shifts in U.S. food spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, food-at-home (FAH) spending was only 2.7% higher in November 2023 compared with November 2019, while food-away-from-home (FAFH) spending remained elevated at 14.6% higher.
After an initial jump in inflation-adjusted FAH spending in March through May 2020, FAH spending leveled off, averaging just 2.8% higher in December 2020 compared with 2019. Even as FAH prices increased throughout 2021 and 2022, inflation-adjusted FAH spending increased as well, with monthly FAH spending in these years averaging 7.2% higher than the corresponding months in 2019. FAH spending has trended back toward pre-pandemic levels since the peak difference of 9.5% in March 2022.
By contrast, FAFH spending initially fell significantly during the pandemic but reversed quickly and outpaced 2019 spending starting in June 2021. From June 2021 through December 2022, monthly inflation-adjusted FAFH spending averaged 8.7% higher than the corresponding months in 2019. FAFH spending peaked at 14.8% higher in March 2023 compared with March 2019. — USDA Economic Research Service
