Between 2021 and 2023, US consumers increased their food spending outside by 29.8%, driven by changing habits and rising food service costs, but the percentage of income spent on food outside the house remained stable at 9.5% to 9.95%.
Absolute numbers on the rise
The average expenditure on food outside has seen one of the largest increases, from around $3000 in 2021 to somewhere around $3900 in 2023.
Even though this number seems quite large, the absolute numbers should not worry anybody as a better metric would be the comparison of Income to Expenditure Ratio.
Income to Expenditure Ratio remained the same
From 2021 to 2023, U.S. households saw an increase in both disposable income and the amount spent on food away from home.
In 2021, the average disposable income (after taxes) was $78,743, and households spent $3,030 on food outside the home [Source : BLS]. This meant that food away from home accounted for approximately 3.8% of disposable income.
By 2023, disposable income had increased to $87,869, and the expenditure on food away from home had risen to $3,933. This caused food spending outside the home to account for about 4.5% of disposable income.
It’s a change of almost 0.7% over 2 years.
It COULD be Worrying
Since the metric is an “average” and not a “median”, things could be quite different.
Another alternate thought could be : The averages grew, but who contributed to the average? If the average were to be equally applied for everybody else, including those homes with a bottom salary of $30K, then the percentage of increase would have a greater impact on those who earn less!
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