Why do the “official” numbers on food inflation state it’s gone up by tiny amounts like 8%, 19%, 11%, etc. but most of the foods I see has gone up by a minimum of 50%, 100%, 80%?

Question

Why do the “official” numbers on food inflation state it’s gone up by tiny amounts like 8%, 19%, 11%, etc. but most of the foods I see has gone up by a minimum of 50%, 100%, 80%?

In: Economics

Answer 1

Because you remember the huge price hikes and forget the stuff that stayed the same or went back down, or went up but not that much.

Egg prices skyrocketed due to bird flu and then went back down. Everybody remembers paying $3 for eggs and thinks “food costs twice as much!” even though that’s not the price anymore.

Prices have certainly gone up overall, but not by anything like 100%. That’s just the fallible human brain at work.