What does $100 REALLY buy you at the grocery store? Fascinating data shows how inflation has eroded shoppers' buying power by a third since 2019
- Inflation has eroded around a third of the buying power of a $100 bill
- Shoppers could have bought 32 items on a $100 budget in 2019, figures show
- But today they would have to give up at least ten to stay within the budget
Inflation has eroded around a third of the buying power of $100 at the grocery store in five years, new analysis has found.
In 2019, the sum would have bought shoppers a healthy 32-item bag complete with milk, eggs, cereal, dish soap and more.
However today customers would have to take at least 10 of those products out of their basket to maintain the same budget.
The figures, collated by market insights firm NielsenIQ, lay bare just how stretched household finances have become in the face of red-hot inflation.
The rate of annual inflation rose slightly to 3.2 percent in February, the latest data available.
Inflation has eroded around a third of the buying power of a one-hundred-dollar bill at the grocery store in five years, new analysis has found
It marks a decline from a 40-year-high of 9.1 percent in June 2022 but remains well above the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target.
According to NielsenIQ's figures - seen by DailyMail.com - a grocery shop filled with peanut butter, jam, milk, chocolate, lunch meats, flour, crackers and toilet roll among other items would reach a total of $100.30.
But today shoppers would have to remove items such as bananas, oat milk, soda, chocolate and crackers to whittle the bill down to $100.02.
The products to have seen the biggest price rises include laundry detergent which has increased by $2.83 to $10.66 on average.
Toilet roll has similarly increased $2.67 to $9.75 while eggs - once seen as the poster child for inflation - were up by $1.48 to $3.84.
The cost of peanut butter has also risen $1.04 while jam has shot up $1.12.
Nielsen's data looked at the average unit price for products in the 52 weeks ending March 23 compared with prices in the 52 weeks ending March 28, 2020.
In real terms, prices for hundreds of grocery staples have increased more than 50 percent since 2019.
It comes after a host of budget retailers have been forced to raise the prices on some of their products.
![DailyMail.com analysis shows how much each item has increased in price since 2019](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/05/14/83254691-13272601-image-a-8_1712324832735.jpg)
DailyMail.com analysis shows how much each item has increased in price since 2019
![The full cost of each product today is highlighted in red](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/05/14/83254913-13272601-image-a-6_1712324821205.jpg)
The full cost of each product today is highlighted in red
Trader Joe's recently upped the price of a single banana from 19 to 23 cents - a 21 percent increase in costs.
Even value store Dollar Tree said it will up the price cap at its stores - where once everything was $1 or less - to $7.
The average American household now spends $1,080 per month at the grocery store as two years of rampant inflation takes its toll on household budgets.
Analysis of US Census data in January showed shopping costs vary by as much as $304 per month state-by-state.
The findings, from HelpAdvisor, show grocery spending is highest in California where the average household splashes out $297.72 per week - or around $1,190 per month.
It was followed by Nevada, Mississippi and Washington where weekly spending amounts to $294.76, $290.64 and $287.67 respectively.
By contrast, households in Wisconsin spend the least on groceries, with their weekly shop totaling $221.46 - or $885.84 per month.
After the Badger State, Iowa and Nebraska came in as the cheapest places to shop where families weekly grocery spend is $227.32 and $235.12 respectively.