Food inflation spikes to 11.4% at fastest pace in over 40 years

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The rise in food prices isn’t slowing down, according to Statistics Canada’s latest report.

While the country’s inflation rate slowed for the third month in a row to 6.9%, foodflation is alive and well, the agency revealed in September’s Consumer Price Index on Wednesday.

The report found that prices for food purchased from stores spiked to 11.4%, the fastest pace since August 1981.

Food prices have been dominating the index’s charts since December 2021.

StatsCan says there are multiple factors influencing this.

“Contributing to price increases for food and beverages were unfavourable weather, higher prices for important inputs such as fertilizer and natural gas, as well as geopolitical instability stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” explained the agency.

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What you’re paying more for on your grocery bill

Feeling like your grocery bills have been high lately? Here’s what’s costing you more.

In first place, you may be surprised to find that prices for cereal products (excluding baby food) rose by 17.9%.

Following closely behind it is the price of coffee and tea, which rose by 16.4%.

After that, baked goods come in at an increase of 14.8%.

The only products that are below a 10% increase are dairy (9.7%), seafood (7.6%), and meat (7.6%).

Have a look at the full list of price increases on the graph below:

Statistics Canada

Grocery stores like Loblaws are being blamed for these price increases as they’re accused of profiting off of inflation.

Other items that continue to rise in price

Besides food, prices for goods like vehicles and furniture rose at a faster rate in September.

Tuition fees also rose by 2.3% compared to last year.

Fortunately, gas prices fell for the third month in a row to 7.4% in September.