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Household Food Inflation in Canada

Author

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  • Olena Kostyshyna
  • Maude Ouellet

Abstract

We use Canadian home scanner data to study household food inflation rates during periods of low and high inflation. We find that during the post-pandemic surge in inflation, the actual inflation rates experienced by different households varied more widely. Low-income households faced higher inflation than high-income households. We find that during the high-inflation period, households used several strategies to lower the impact of inflation, including shopping more frequently, shopping at more stores or buying more on sale. Canadian households also substituted more toward low-priced products when inflation increased.

Suggested Citation

  • Olena Kostyshyna & Maude Ouellet, 2024. "Household Food Inflation in Canada," Staff Working Papers 24-33, Bank of Canada.
    • Handle: RePEc:bca:bocawp:24-33
    DOI: 10.34989/swp-2024-33
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaplan, Greg & Schulhofer-Wohl, Sam, 2017. "Inflation at the household level," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 19-38.
    2. Olga Bilyk & Mikael Khan & Olena Kostyshyna, 2024. "Pricing behaviour and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from consumer prices microdata," Staff Analytical Notes 2024-6, Bank of Canada.
    3. Ampudia, Miguel & Ehrmann, Michael & Strasser, Georg, 2024. "Shopping behavior and the effect of monetary policy on inflation heterogeneity along the income distribution," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Olivier Coibion & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Michael Weber, 2022. "Monetary Policy Communications and Their Effects on Household Inflation Expectations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(6), pages 1537-1584.
    5. Francesco D’Acunto & Ulrike Malmendier & Juan Ospina & Michael Weber, 2021. "Exposure to Grocery Prices and Inflation Expectations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(5), pages 1615-1639.
    6. Jain, Monica & Kostyshyna, Olena & Zhang, Xu, 2024. "How do people view wage and price inflation?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pathak Chalise, Prayash, 2025. "Household-Level Food Price Inflation Heterogeneity: Evidence and Insights from the U.S. Consumer Panel Data (2013-2023)," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360870, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Catherine L. Mah & Lynn McIntyre, 2026. "The Household Food Security Survey Module, as Used in Canada, is a Policy-Sensitive Indicator of Both Material Deprivation and Social Exclusion," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Kelsey O'Flaherty, 2026. "A New Reason to Hate Grocery Inflation: Measuring and Interpreting Inflation Heterogeneity," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2026-001, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. Jacob Dolinar & Patrick Sabourin & Matt West, 2025. "Synthesizing Signals from the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations," Discussion Papers 2025-11, Bank of Canada.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

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