Beef and coffee drive grocery inflation up

Grocery inflation moved up in December 2025 after losing momentum the month before, with prices for meat and coffee playing an outsize role in the increase.

Meat prices were up at a yearly clip of 9.2% last month, continuing a multimonth upward trend. Inflation for the commodity came in at just under 9% in November, compared with 8.5% in September and 7.3% in August, according to Consumer Price Index data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Beef and veal prices, which have been on the rise for months, were up sharply last month, rising at an annual rate of 16.4%, up from 15.8% in November and 14.7% in September.

Costs for uncooked beef steaks rose even faster last month, increasing at an annual rate of just under 18% compared with 14.7% in November and 16.6% in September.

Grocery inflation in December moved up to an annual pace of 2.4% from 1.9% during the prior month, while across-the-board inflation held steady last month at 2.7%. The BLS did not release inflation statistics for October because of the federal government shutdown.