Are prices lower in stores compared to a year ago?

Are store prices down from last year? I'll pull the latest inflation data to check.

No — overall, prices in stores are higher than a year ago, not lower.

National inflation remains positive year-over-year:

•The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index increased 3.4% in August from year-ago levels

•Over the 12 months ended July 2026, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 3.4 percent

That means the average basket of goods and services costs about 3.4% more than it did at the same time last year, above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

For groceries / food-at-home - the prices you see in stores:

•Prices for food increased 3.0 percent over the year , with Food at home up 2.7%

•Food prices in May 2026 were 3.1% higher than a year earlier, with groceries up 2.7%

•The U.S. Department of Agriculture is predicting that grocery prices will rise approximately 1.7% in 2026

•Overall grocery prices were unchanged in August after declining 0.1% in July, but over the 12 months ending in August, grocery prices rose 2.2%, down from a 2.7% increase for the 12 months ending in July

So while the rate of increase has slowed, and there was a small month-to-month dip - BLS show a 0.1% decrease in food-at-home prices for July and a 2.7% increase over the last 12 months - prices are still higher year-over-year. As USDA and other analysis note: Even with inflation slowing, prices are not necessarily falling; they are simply rising at a slower pace.

A few specific store categories are lower than a year ago, which can make it feel mixed on shelves:

•Consumers paid lower prices for used cars and trucks (−1.9 percent) and medical care commodities (−2.7 percent) in July 2026 compared with a year earlier

•Within groceries, dairy and related products dipped 0.5% over the year in July in some reports

But broad categories are up: Energy increased 14.7 percent, with gasoline up 24.6 percent over the year, and food away from home rose 3.4 percent.

In short: You are not paying less at the store than you were a year ago on average — you are paying about 2-3% more for groceries and about 3.4% more overall, though inflation is much lower than the peak years of 2022-2023 and some individual items have gotten cheaper.

Citations (3)

1morningstar.comData and tools
August CPI Report Shows Inflation at a 3.4% Annual Rate, Above Forecasts
Backs: “No — overall, prices in stores are higher than a year ago, not lower. National inflation remains positive year-over-year: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index increased 3.4% in August from year-ago levels”
2bls.govGovernment
Consumer prices up 3.4 over the year in July 2026 : The Economics Daily : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Backs: “The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index increased 3.4% in August from year-ago levels. Over the 12 months ended July 2026, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 3.4 percent”
3github.comForums and Q&A
expense-budget-tracker-website/src/content/en/blog/should-i-buy-before-prices-go-up.md at bc3d348ff3b06b8efae2f7c2e8c3d8a358e96c4e · kirill-markin/expense-budget-tracker-website · GitHub
Backs: “For groceries / food-at-home - the prices you see in stores: Prices for food increased 3.0 percent over the year , with Food at home up 2.7%. Food prices in May 2026 were 3.1% higher than a year earlier, with groceries up 2.7%”