Consumer Price Index

It continues to get more expensive to go out than to stay home, according to food and beverage metrics in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index for February 2026.

Price hikes for beverage-alcohol continue to be a tale of diverging trajectories through the start of 2026.

The cost of an evening out continues to rise. The consumer price index (CPI) for a full service meal (+4.9%) and alcoholic beverages (+3.5%) away from home increased more than overall inflation (+2.7%) in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest CPI report.

After months of outpacing overall inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beverage-alcohol at home and away was lower than the CPI for all goods at +2.7% year-over-year (YoY) in November 2025, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Beer price increases in bars and restaurants outpaced overall inflation in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index.

If going out seemed expensive in July, dining and drinking budgets were likely stretched further in August. The consumer price index (CPI) for alcohol away from home (+3.8% year-over-year [YoY]) and food away from home (+3.9% YoY) far outpaced overall inflation (+2.9%) in August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) most recent monthly report.

All signs point to the cost of a night out getting more expensive. July marks a continuation of bev-alc away from home outpacing overall inflation. The CPI for both food (+3.9% year-over-year [YoY]) and alcohol (+3.4% YoY) outpaced overall inflation for all items (+2.7% YoY) in July.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June reflected higher inflation as the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs began to take hold. The CPI for all goods increased 2.7% year-over-year before seasonal adjustment, growing 0.3% from May’s CPI of 2.4%, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall bev-alc inflation continued to grow in May, but appears to be easing for the majority of the industry, except for spirits.

Bev-alc’s price increases slowed slightly in March, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

It cost more to go out for a drink last month than it did a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) February 2025 Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. The CPI for total beverage-alcohol away from home increased +3.4% last month compared to February 2024.

Beer continued to outpace other beverage-alcohol categories in Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases to start the year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) January 2025 report.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer at home increased +2.5% year-over-year (YoY) in December 2024, before seasonal adjustment, increasing below total inflation, but outpacing the rest of the bev-alc industry, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Inflation for beer continued to outpace trends for total bev-alc in October, but lessened versus September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.