Looking up whether store prices have dropped versus last year — I'll check the latest inflation data.
No, overall store prices are not lower than a year ago - they are still higher, but inflation has slowed.
In the U.S.:
•The Consumer Price Index increased 3.4% year over year in August 2026, matching the print from July. Year over year CPI is also known as the "Inflation Rate".
•The headline rate has been steady at +3.4% for the past two months after peaking at +4.2% earlier in the year.
•On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.4% in August after rising 0.2% in July, and also rose 0.4% month-over-month in August after a 0.1% gain in July.
For grocery / food at home specifically:
•Food prices increased 3.1 percent as prices for food at home rose 2.4 percent from February 2025 to February 2026
•Food prices rose 3.0 percent over the year ended June 2026, with food at home prices rising 2.7 percent
•As of August 2026, Food at home was up 2.2% year over year and Food overall up 2.7%
Private shopping cart trackers show the same pattern:
•Grocery prices dipped 0.9% in October, but remain 3.6% higher than last year
•A July 10, 2025 analysis finds grocery prices increased 5.3% year over year
•The cost of a typical grocery run increased from $147.71 in January 2025 to $156.43 in January 2026, a 5.9% year-over-year increase
Some individual items or categories have fallen year over year - for example some reports note butter and bacon saw modest declines and retail prices for fresh vegetables fell about 2% compared to a year earlier in the first six months of 2025, and dairy was up only 0.7% year over year in September - but the total basket remains more expensive.
Exception is the UK shop price index, where overall shop prices have seen deflation recently:
•The overall shop price index measuring annual deflation slipped to -1.8%, with non-food deflation strengthened to 3.2%.
That UK deflation is driven by non-food items (clothing, etc.) and fierce competition, not by overall US consumer prices, which remain in positive inflation territory.