Coffee prices trend downward since early 2012, following sharp increase in prior year

September 26, 2013

International Coffee Day is Sunday, September 29. To mark the occasion, this edition of The Editor’s Desk looks at trends in coffee prices over the past decade. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for coffee reached its most recent peak in January 2012. Coffee prices then started declining and were 10 percent lower in August 2013 than in January 2012.

The decline in coffee prices in 2012 and 2013 follows a sharp increase in prices in 2011. The CPI for coffee was 21 percent higher in January 2012 than in January 2010. Despite the recent price declines, the CPI for coffee was 38 percent higher in August 2013 than it had been 10 years earlier.

Prices for roasted coffee generally have increased more rapidly over the past decade than prices for instant and freeze dried coffee. The CPI for roasted coffee was 41 percent higher in August 2013 than in August 2003. By comparison, the CPI for instant and freeze dried coffee increased 23 percent over the same time period.

If coffee is not your cup of tea, you may be interested to know that prices for other beverage materials, including tea, increased 14 percent from August 2003 to August 2013.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program and are not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index — August 2013" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL‑13‑1884.

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