The price of household, health and beauty products are continuing to rise, according to omnichannel consumer data from Numerator.
Recent data for the four-week period ending on Nov. 26 — a calculation of average price per item compared to one year-ago — reveals that prices of household items have risen 9.41% since 2022, and are still trending upward. For the same period, health and beauty prices are up 7.97% from a year ago, and also trending higher following a steep decline that was recorded from September to October.
The average price per item of groceries, meanwhile, is up 5.29% compared to a year ago, which is a very slight uptick from the prior week. Pasta and noodle prices are reversing steep downward declines seen in October, and are edging upward. Packaged bakery, baking and cooking, and snacking prices, meanwhile, remain elevated.
Online grocery inflation has also ticked back up as consumers approach the holiday season. Following a month-long period of under-indexing versus the prior year — and the average price per item actually dropping 10% October compared with a year ago — online grocery prices are inching up.
Gas and convenience and dollar grocery inflation remains elevated versus prior weeks, while club channels are holding steady, as are liquor.
Lastly, Canadian consumers across generations and ethnicities are experiencing similar rates of inflation in the most recent week.
However, when broken down by income level, rates of grocery inflation vary. While all income groups face elevated inflation versus the prior week, the highest is seen by people who make more than $80,000 (with the average price per grocery item up more than 8% versus a year ago). This is followed by the middle income set ($40,000 to $80,000) experiencing year-over-year spikes of 6%, and finally, under $40,000 seeing a marginal increase of 3%.
